Mind Phrase People Americans Parents Gap Doors Subway

Anyone who has been to London can tell you what the phrase "mind the gap" means. It is an announcement heard on the subway/metro (called the "Tube" in England) when the doors to the subway trains open and close. "Mind," in this case, means to pay attention to something, and "gap" means the space between two things. "Mind the gap" is a reminder for people to be careful of the space between the subway train doors and the station "platform," the flat area where people wait for the train to arrive.

Americans don't use "mind" in the same way. While "to mind" can mean to pay attention to something, Americans use it in a very specific way. You may hear parents or adults say to children: "Mind your parents," meaning do what your parents tell you to, or "mind your manners." "Manners" refer to social behaviors, so we talk about people having good manners or bad manners. When parents tell their children to "mind their manners," they mean for the children to behave well, such as to say "please" and "thank you," and to not eat with their mouth open at the dinner table.

Another phrase you'll hear is, "Do you mind?" Americans use this in two ways. First, they use it to mean, "Is it all right?" or "Is this acceptable to you?" Here are a couple of examples:

- "Do you mind if I meet you at 2:00 instead of 1:00?"

- "Li asked me if we would mind if they sat with us at the concert, and I told her that we wouldn't mind at all."

Another way we use the phrase "Do you mind?" is to express our displeasure and to tell someone to stop doing what he or she is doing. For example, if you are on the bus and someone leans over to read your newspaper to the point of getting in your way, you may say to him/her, "Do you mind?" meaning "stop doing that!" This is a pretty forceful statement and is usually used when we're annoyed or angry about someone else's actions.