[Vocabulary] to get doing with somebody

[englishhobby]

In a local textbook I came across the following topic for an essay: It is important to get doing with your neighbours.

I understood from the context that "to get doing with somebody" means "to get along well with somebody". But I still felt a little bit confused, so I decided to check it in the dictionary. To my surprise, I couldn't find a single dictionary entry for "to get doing with". Could you clarify this expression for me? Is it common?

 

[5jj]

I've never heard it. What was the name of the textbook - and its author?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

In a local textbook I came across the following topic for an essay: It is important to get doing with your neighbours.

I understood from the context that "to get doing with somebody" means "to get along well with somebody". But I still felt a little bit confused, so I decided to check it in the dictionary. To my surprise, I couldn't find a single dictionary entry for "to get doing with". Could you clarify this expression for me? Is it common?

There is no such expression. It's a mistake. Good question!

 

[englishhobby]

I've never heard it. What was than name off the textbook - and its author?

It is a Russian textbook created by non-natives aimed at helping students to prepare for the state exam. ;-) But even I I felt there was something wrong with it.

 

[tzfujimino]

It might have been a transcription error made by OCR programs.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcription_error

 

[jutfrank]

In a local textbook I came across the following topic for an essay

What do you mean by "topic for an essay"? Can you give us some context?

 

[5jj]

It is a Russian textbook created by non-natives aimed at helping students to prepare for the state exam.

That tells us the name of neither the book nor its author.

 

[englishhobby]

What do you mean by "topic for an essay"? Can you give us some context?

That is something I have always been struggling with. In my language we call the problem on which you are going to dwell on in your essay a "topic of the essay". So here we have a case of interference of my native language. It should be a theme of/for an essay, right?

 

[englishhobby]

That tells us the name of neither the book nor its author.

I only know that the author's name is Andrey Mishin. I got only one screenshot with the assignment to write an essay from this book sent to me by a friend. I don't know what book exactly it was. But here is one of the many of his textbooks, just as an example: https://www.labirint.ru/books/569655/
And here's the screenshot:

 

[jutfrank]

That is something I have always been struggling with. In my language we call the problem on which you are going to dwell on in your essay a "topic of the essay". So here we have a case of interference of my native language. It should be a theme of/for an essay, right?

No, it's neither topic nor theme. The sentence is a statement that the student has to agree or disagree with, so I call it a title statement.

Anyway, that's an awful title statement, because it's very hard to know what it's supposed to mean. I'd guess that get doing means something like 'generally participating in certain activities'. In other words: 'It's important to do stuff with your neighbours'. Do not use this title statement in class.

 

[englishhobby]

No, it's neither topic nor theme. The sentence is a statement that the student has to agree or disagree with, so I call it a title statement.

It is a new term for me, thank you. And, in more common situations, do you use the term 'topic for an essay' or 'theme of an essay'?

 

[jutfrank]

The essay topic is the subject that the essay is generally about. The topic might be animal testing, legalising drugs, or global warming.

When the title statement expresses a claim that is to be argued in the essay, we call this claim a thesis. This is why title statements are sometimes called thesis statements.