July 17, 2017　=========

☆  impression  印象

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Your impression of a person or thing or place is what you think they are like. You usually form this impression after having seen or heard that thing. For example, I might say, “My impression of the Japanese public transport system is that it is very organized.” On the other hand, if you were visiting me in Adelaide, you might say, “My impression of Adelaide’s public transport system is that it is non-existent!” (In this case, of course we have public transport, but it is not very efficient, so ‘non-existent’ is being sarcastic.)

There is one other interesting way to use today’s word: in the phrase, “under the impression.” If you are under the impression that something is the case, then it means that you believe it, even though it is probably not true. For example, “I was under the impression that Adelaide’s public transport system was very efficient.” So, this would mean that you mistakenly thought it was efficient, but now you have experienced it – or have heard information that is the opposite – and so you are no longer under that impression.

Chris