Newcomer extracts the meaning of a common expression

By Nikhil Jadhav

Image credit: Stephanie Tuohy on Unsplash

How can two words which sound similar have diametrically opposite connotations? Take milking and juicing. To me, both mean extracting something.

When I see “milked the system” I think someone squeezed something out of it.

So recently, when I saw, “juicing the system”, I thought it meant the same, someone was extracting something, taking something out. But in the context it was used, that didn’t make sense.

I had to read the article twice to understand that it means exactly the opposite. It means putting something in. As in filling the coffers.

I shared that with my brother in India and he agreed that it made no sense, but since he’s also in the process of moving to Canada, he appreciated learning the new meaning.

What’s your story? Every newcomer, no matter how savvy or where he or she comes from, ha