The Irish Times published an article on September 23, 2015,
with the headline ‘Wear it out: Take a tip from a student and get wrapped up.’
What does ‘wear it out’ mean?
When I read the
headline I had three thoughts: (1) I will be informed about clothes that I can
wear for such a long time that I would eventually wear them out – that is, wear
them until they are threadbare (i.e. full of holes), (2) I will be informed
about clothes to wear out – maybe somewhere posh or a formal outing, or (3) I
will be informed about clothes to wear outside. From the image and the rest of
the headline, the article appeared to be about warm clothes. But I still didn’t
know which meaning was the one the author intended.
So I read the article.
A student provides readers with ideas for ‘musthaves’ (items you must have) for
this autumn/winter. However, nowhere in the article is the phrase ‘wear it out’
or ‘wear out’ – it was only in the headline.
There are three items
of women’s clothes listed in the article: (1) a blanket scarf (‘it can double
as a scarf/blanket/shield from the cold’), (2) a jacket (a winter coat), and (3)
boots ‘like wellies but not ugly.’ Actually the blanket doesn’t double as a
scarf/blanket/shield – it triples as a scarf/blanket/shield. Double means two
and triple means three. But who’s counting?
Furthermore, the
article provides the brands and the prices for the three items of clothing. And
they certainly are good tips for winter. They are also smart enough to wear
somewhere posh – to wear out. An emphasis on out used to mean ‘to get decked out’ or ‘to get dressed up’ in best
clothes to go somewhere formal – i.e. to a formal outing. However, the Free Dictionary
defines ‘wear out’ as ‘to make unusable through long or heavy use’ or ‘to
exhaust’ or ‘to tire out’ or ‘to consume gradually.’
Although the article
does not provide clarity about the meaning of the phrase, due to the mention of
cold, winter, and blanket-scarves, readers can assume that the implied meaning
of ‘wear it out’ is to wear it outside.
Scorecard for The Irish Times headline is 90% - that’s
30% for each of the triple uses for the blanket scarf. It is not uncommon to say
‘wear it out’ when meaning ‘wear it outside’ because most people will generally
assume so, especially when referring to winter clothes. The article could also
intend the double entendre (double interpretation)
whereby readers can wear the items over and over again throughout the season. So
if you wear the blanket scarf outside many times or for many winter seasons,
you might wear it out.
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