getting badly sunburnt (to a crisp/cracking)

[JACEK1]

Hello everybody!

My wife's son- in-law and daughter love lying in the sun for long periods of time. He recently said "I can't wait to get sunburnt to a crisp/cracking". In other words, he would like to get a suntan that is very similar to that of the inhabitants of Central Africa. He would like his suntan to be as dark as possible.

What do you think of the underline fragment?

 

[Rover_KE]

It's neither colloquial nor natural.

They must be aware that it's also very dangerous; they are risking early death from skin cancer.

 

[JACEK1]

How would you say that in a natural way?

 

[GoesStation]

They want to get really deep tans.

When I was fourteen, my family moved from cloudy Ohio to sunny southern California. My mom started going to yard sales to get various things for the new house. I remember vividly the deeply wrinkled woman taking money at one sale in the neighborhood. She wasn't terribly old — I guessed maybe mid forties — but her face was furrowed like a plowed field. The dangers of tanning weren't widely known at the time, but it was immediately obvious to me that this woman had severely damaged her skin by excessive sunbathing.

 

[jutfrank]

He recently said "I can't wait to get sunburnt to a crisp/cracking".

This is correct with crisp but incorrect with cracking.

The expression which this is a variation of is burnt to a crisp.

 

[JACEK1]

Could someone explain to me "taking money at one sale?"

 

[jutfrank]

GoesStation is taking about a 'yard sale', which is where people sell things from their houses that they don't need any more, usually outside their houses, to people passing by.

 

[Tdol]

This is correct with crisp but incorrect with cracking.

Crackling? Not that it would work here.