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do time

简体
do time
服刑

Date: Dec 20 2012

Themes: News, Pop Culture

Quote

1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.

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“I did my time and I respect the law.”

- Actress Lindsay Lohan on what she learned in jail. (Us Weekly)

“我在那里服刑,并懂得了尊重法律。”

- 演员林赛·罗韩 (Lindsay Lohan) 谈论自己在狱中的体会。

Definition

1. Definition - Study the definition.

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be in prison; spend time in jail

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

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There are a lot of terrible things about going to jail. You’re kept away from your family and loved ones. The living conditions might be terrible. You might be treated badly. The food would probably be terrible. No matter what the specific conditions, one thing that jail does is take away time, whether months or years, time that you could have been spending being free. Therefore, you can refer to going to jail as doing time.

People also sometimes talk about doing time to refer to activities other than going to jail. Usually, these are activities that you didn’t really want to do, so they made you feel trapped, or like you were in jail. If you had to spend a month in a town you hated, you might say that you did your time there. Of if you worked at a job you didn’t like and then quit, you might say that you’d done your time.

Lindsay Lohan did actually spend time in jail, so she knows the literal meaning of watching the hours and days pass away while being locked up. She says that doing time ended up having a positive effect on her. It made her respect the law.

Examples

1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.

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“Ricky did time for robbing a liquor store.”

“If you do the crime, you gotta do the time.”

“He’s been in trouble, but he’s never done time.”

Winners

1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.

mozheh i was in jail
by mozheh
a2020 It means she's passed her sentence to jail.
by a2020
a_endari finishing the time you are convined to spend in jail.
by a_endari
goodmahsa 1.somebody spend time in prison to pay for a crime 2.spend enough time for gaining experience and knowledge about a particular job or activity In this example the first meaning rules.
by goodmahsa
Somebody spent time in prison to pay for a crime.
by Irene Forever
Julissita She finished her time in prison.
by Julissita
dearpesar accepting the punishment by staying in jail
by dearpesar
knuschu to spend time in prison
by knuschu
 julito I paid up my debt with the law.
by julito

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Comments

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AryelLanes

AryelLanes

Brazil

Thank goodness I’ve never done time in my life for anything! To me, the biggest problem wouldn’t be to watch the days passing by… It’d be what I’d have to face in prison: corrupt officers, having to be on the lookout all the time, bad people trying to exploit you… Err…

12:27 PM Mar 13 2014 |

Nicte ha

Nicte ha

Mexico

I have never done time: “Thx God”!!


07:46 PM Dec 27 2012 |

ahmed 07

Yemen

hi


09:40 PM Dec 25 2012 |

okokok

okokok

China

Someone spends times unhappily on waitting, working, or life, just watching the hours and days pass away in bad mood, as spending times in jail.

03:24 AM Dec 22 2012 |

Katia1

Katia1

Brazil

The people would be to respect the laws, and the people.

12:10 PM Dec 21 2012 |

bellaboo2422

Pakistan


i did’t time luckly as truly it means but in a way there was a time in my life when i can say i did time of being living at some place with the people i dont like with unfair curcumstances and i can’t inarticulate the ordeal of that time. life had gone colourless for me it was getting more tortuous day by day and i felt that was a great topsy turvy in my life. i’m candidly sharing no kidding at all then time has taken a trun and it was the end of prison i would say. do time in jail or in prison would be miserable surely it shudder me when i even think about it. but do time in a jail some time proves good because most of the people got detoxified souls after being there. they get developed a deep insight which leads them on a right path. but sadly some people become sour and icy and shows idiocies. i think these are some rudiments of today which i twigs.

05:24 AM Dec 21 2012 |

knuschu

knuschu

Germany

I agree with all here, who prefer to respect the law! Always assuming, that the law in appropriate country respects the rights of humanity! I am happy, that the Citizens of my homecountry GDR did not respected the law in 1989 and demonstrated against injustice, so I am now able  to chat with you friends … and would have the possibilty to visit you :)

08:16 PM Dec 20 2012 |

friendlover

Turkey

Thank you Lesya, for appreciating. It means a lot to me.


Your comment was pointing me. I mean I felt that way, when I read I said: “Yes, she is right! That’s really true.” Maybe julito said the same to himself too.


korhansare simge, thank you for your comment too. I also learnt many things ( not only new words) from these comments. Sometimes I learn from comments more than lessons. 



07:33 PM Dec 20 2012 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

Julito, he’s innocent until proven guilty : ) … I can’t say he menaced or used his gun on somebody, but if he indeed used it for hunting, he went a little too far, there’s no game I know of that roam the woods donning bulletproof vest : ). It looked very robust and capable of inflicting serious damage

05:36 PM Dec 20 2012 |

1 person likes this

 julito

julito

Argentina

 Snoopy, interesting  story , your fingerprints could have put you  in the crime scene as a potential  person     of interest to the police.   lucky guy!!

05:26 PM Dec 20 2012 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

     I like this proverb: “Jail is never too far”. You could be a law-fearing and exemplary citizen and yet find yourself behind those stone cold bars, amongst some of the most unhinged criminals you could possibly imagine. If, God forbid, you don’t have anyone from the outside to vouch for your innocence you might just have to throw your lot with those felons, for years, decades, life. The calamities you could be exposed to during incarceration could stigmatize you with emotional and physical pains, and change you radically, for the better or worse. When you leave those walls, you either come out a reformed person or someone with sinister grudge against the society that vilified you.


     I have never done time, fortunately. I’ve had very few encounters with law enforcers that couldn’t possibly land me jail time, most occurred on the road: being pulled over for defective brake lights or abrupt change of lane. Only one time, I answered my door and I was surprised to be greeted by three police officers… I was to identify the body of my former landlord who was passed out drunk and whatnot, on the sidewalk. He wasn’t dead; they just wanted me to confirm that he resided in the house. When I said that he was my landlord, one officer joked and said “your money is buying him a lot of troubles, sir”. I knew about his alcoholic debaucheries but when I found out that he was also a drug addict, I moved out. Months later I almost got myself into bigger troubles at the new place I rented in.


    Weeks after I settled in this newfound haven which I shared with two other decent tenants, one guy moved in. I felt something bizarre about him when we first met.  I was entering home from work and he was standing behind the front door as though he was expecting me.  I introduced myself to him and he urged us to exchange phone numbers right away, I reluctantly did. I felt uneasy about his  awkward smilings and his meth face : ). The next morning I found out he had mounted a camera so that he could monitor all traffic in and out of the main door of the house. That same day , my two other housemates and I petitioned our landlord on how we thought having a camera in the house didn’t make us feel secured, we thought it was a breach of privacy as well as an indication that there might be something suspicious about this new tenant. The next day he was asked to dismount his camera, he did.  Another strange thing we noticed about him is that he was really jumpy, every times he hears the main door being opened or closed, he would peek out as to investigate and say something like “I thought we were getting burglarized” and laugh.


     One night I was heading out when he asked me whether I liked to hunt or not.  I told him I had no interest in such activity. I asked him the same question; he was very passionate in his response. He claimed that he enjoyed hunting very much. He revealed that he had a weapon in his room for hunting purposes; he invited me in to look at it.  I followed him to his room, but I didn’t make myself comfortable and walk  all the way in, I stood by the door and I made sure he couldn’t close it behind me : ). “There it is!” he said, pointing at a corner. I’m not a gun expert, but that rifle I saw was no ordinary hunting air gun- if it was in the first place. He offered his permission to touch it, if I wanted to, but I declined. I left and went about my business; I was very shocked by that discovery. I spent over a week pondering over it, debating whether I should share what I saw with my other housemates, at one point, I even considered calling the police on him, but I never did. I didn’t want to get him in any trouble if my allegation were only susceptible. I finally resolved that I didn’t want to play detective and leave this weirdo be.


    So one day , at work, I received a call from one of my housemates telling me how two cops escorted him out of the house. Then, that’s when I told him about the gun he’d shown me. My housemate told me that I should have warned him but  did well not to touch the rifle. None of us knew what he’d gotten apprehended for , but who knows?, if I’d touched that gun, I could have shed my fingerprints all over it and booby trapped myself in a tricky situation , like, “doing” time instead of enjoying  Ebaby time  : )



...Julito, about the elevator scandal: you were very lucky, and no matter what hardship you’re facing now it could have been worse, you should count your blessings and be grateful to whomever you devote your faith to, for sparing you of this dark fate.  As for appearance, anyone could fit the profile of a felon or mistaken for one. You had a close call. Phew!


 julito

julito

Argentina

Now that I remember, I have also did  time…    


It was the time of the dreadful military rule,during that time  it was risky going out without ID ,and I made that mistake. Having nothing to do, I  went to the cinema to watch a movie, probably the title was :caught me if you can.  An army truck  pulled over in front of the theater  and got into the  screening room, ordering  to the viewers  their ID,  , How could I justified myself ? it wasn´t with me. OK, then we´ll give you a free ride  ,and at gun point  they loaded me onto the truck  to the nearest  precinct, after the standard procedure of fingerprints ,  to “entertain” me  the police  invited me to visit the cell quarters and once inside locked me up to spend the night with thieves and thugs .The next morning they cleared me up and set me free. I DID TIME.

04:47 PM Dec 20 2012 |

korhansaresimge

Turkey

julito you’re lucky innocent people.lesya and friendlover ı agree with you(by the way ı learnt many new words from you thank you for your comments) :) and thanks all other people for their comments :)

04:00 PM Dec 20 2012 |

Irene Forever

Ukraine

Julito, what a terrible story! Thank God we can communicate here now. Such cases may happen because of the stressed condition of a person, and you could have definitely gotten into a scrape. Lesya is right. You had a very different appearance from the man who committed a crime, and it was your big luck.

03:05 PM Dec 20 2012 |

mazenzen

Syrian Arab Republic

like

01:54 PM Dec 20 2012 |

FUN777

FUN777

Egypt

I think any time we pass in our lives, we should review and think about what’s the meaning of life. It may be useful for us even in jail.

01:52 PM Dec 20 2012 |

1 person likes this

ballin25

ballin25

United Kingdom

Hello to everyone i hope you have good day.

01:49 PM Dec 20 2012 |

DaeNg

DaeNg

Thailand

Internee

01:25 PM Dec 20 2012 |

1 person likes this

kotlesya

kotlesya

Belarus

The stories, movies and other stuff  about imprisonment always took my attention.


I have got my small collection of movies about life in prison on the hard disk. They are dramatical, cruel, depressive, sad but sooooooo truuuuuue :’((((

12:01 PM Dec 20 2012 |

1 person likes this

kotlesya

kotlesya

Belarus

friendlover ,  ”Time is a treassure. Sometimes even one second can make a big change in our life. “ – are golden words. 


Julito, Freindlover, friends I’m glad you got my viewpoint and told your experiences according to that proverb. I admire your honesty, guys. Thanks.

11:57 AM Dec 20 2012 |

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