Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Running Out The Hose


No, I don't think there's anything seriously wrong with this sign.
But I was just thinking, why is it "running out the hose"? I guess perhaps it refers to the act of rolling out the hose, since the hose must be pretty long. But why "run out", and not "roll out", or something else?
I checked "run out" in Dictionary.com, and the results are below:
run out:
1. to terminate; expire
2. to become used up
3. to drive out; expel
I guess none of the above meanings of "run out" apply in this case. I checked Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary too, and the results are somewhat similar.
Then I typed "running out the hose" in Google, and it gave me these, among many others:
1. running out a length of hose...
2. running out dutch rolled hose...
3. running out the main hose line...
4. open valve before running out hose...
Hmm.. I guess "run out" does collocate with "hose" then. =)

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