Run it under water.

[diamondcutter]

When you cut your finger, you should:
1. Run it under water.
2. Put some medicine on it.
3. Put a bandage on it.

(Go for It! a textbook for junior high school students in China, by Cengage Learning and People’s Education Press of China)

I wonder if ‘run it under water’ means ‘put your finger under water and let the water wash your finger’. If so, I’d like to know if the use of ‘run it under water’ in this way is common.

 

[Tarheel]

No. Say:

Hold it under running water for a while.

 

[emsr2d2]

I can't disagree with Tarheel's version but I can tell you that in BrE you'll hear "Run it under the tap", whether referring to a cut finger, a vegetable or a slightly stained T-shirt. It has honestly never occurred to me until this thread that "run it" is actually quite difficult to justify. It's not the same as when we say things like "Run this letter to the postbox please", in which "run" is much more literal.

 

[Rover_KE]

What's the point of the exercise, diamondcutter?

 

[diamondcutter]

What's the point of the exercise, diamondcutter?

It's not an exercise. It’s just a description to tell students what to do when something happens. There are two more as follows.

When you have a nosebleed, you should:
1. Clean your face.
2. Put your head down.
3. Press the sides of your nose.

When you fall down and get hurt, you should:
1. Go to the hospital.
2. Get an X-ray.
3. Rest for a few days.

 

[jutfrank]

Run it under (cold) water is natural enough, yes.

2 is no good, by the way. Don't refer to whatever it is you're putting on it as medicine.

 

[emsr2d2]

It's not an exercise. It’s just a description to tell students what to do when something happens. There are two more as follows.

When you have a nosebleed, you should:
1. Clean your face.
2. Put your head down.
3. Press the sides of your nose.

When you fall down and get hurt, you should:
1. Go to the hospital.
2. Get an X-ray.
3. Rest for a few days.

I don't understand. In post 1, you told us you took it from a text book. Was it or was it not an exercise (multiple choice, presumably) from a textbook? It can't be both from a textbook AND just information for your students telling them what to do if they have a medical issue.

 

[diamondcutter]

I don't understand. In post 1, you told us you took it from a text book. Was it or was it not an exercise (multiple choice, presumably) from a textbook? It can't be both from a textbook AND just information for your students telling them what to do if they have a medical issue.

Sorry I didn't express myself clearly.

The text, which presents language points, is from an English textbook, not a book on medicine. And it is not an exercise. I should have said the content of it is about medical treatment.

 

[diamondcutter]

Run it under (cold) water is natural enough, yes.

2 is no good, by the way. Don't refer to whatever it is you're putting on it as medicine.

I wonder which word should be used instead of medicine here.

 

[GoesStation]

Don't refer to whatever it is you're putting on it as medicine.

I wonder which word should be used instead of medicine here.

Medicine works fine for me. Jutfrank, do you think that word applies only to remedies taken internally?

 

[jutfrank]

Medicine works fine for me. Jutfrank, do you think that word applies only to remedies taken internally?

Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking.

I'm surprised it works for you. Do you think this is a British versus American English thing?

 

[GoesStation]

Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking.

I'm surprised it works for you. Do you think this is a British versus American English thing?

It could well be.

 

[Rover_KE]

I'd only put antiseptic cream on a cut finger, GS. Would you call that medicine?

 

[GoesStation]

I'd only put antiseptic cream on a cut finger, GS. Would you call that medicine?

Yes. It fits Merriam-Webster's definition: "a substance or preparation used in treating disease".

 

[Rover_KE]

Fair enough.

 

[emsr2d2]

I wouldn't say a cut finger was a disease.

 

[GoesStation]

I wouldn't say a cut finger was a disease.

No, but an infected cut is. The definition fails to include prevention as a goal of medicines.