Timeistangible.Onecangaintime,spendtime,wastetime,savetime,orevenkilltime.CommonquestionsinAmericanEnglishrevealthisconcretequalityasthoughtimewereapossession.“Doyouhaveanytime?”,“Canyougetsometimeforthis?”,“Howmuchfreetimedoyouhave?”Thetreatmentoftimeasapossessioninfluencesthewaythattimeiscarefullydivided.
Generally,Americansaretaughttodoonethingatatimeandmaybeuncomfortablewhenanactivityisinterrupted.Inbusinesses,thecarefulschedulingoftimeandtheseparationofactivitiesarecommonpractices.Appointmentcalendarsareprintedwith15-,30-,and60-minutetimeslots.Theideathat“thereisatimeandplaceforeverything”extendstoAmericansociallife.Visitorswhodropbywithoutpriornoticemayinterrupttheirhost’spersonaltime.Thus,callingfriendsonthetelephonebeforevisitingthemisgenerallypreferredtovisitors’droppingby.
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