don't touch that dial
3
9.3
- idiom
- Archaic
:
no cambies de canal
- It's not just visual images: I was watching something with my daughter, and the guy on the TV said, "Don't touch that dial!"
- don't touch that dial, Downs
Examples
-
Ladies and gentlemen, don't touch that dial; we have exciting news coming up after the break.
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So don't touch that dial; we'll be right back after this short commercial break.
Blog text (25) -
So don't touch that dial; we'll be right back after this short commercial break.
Blog text (25) -
I am about to write a post on this very topic; don't touch that dial.
Blog text (6) -
It's not just visual images: I was watching something with my daughter, and the guy on the TV said, "Don't touch that dial!"
Blog text (18) -
Don't touch that dial.
-
Don't touch that dial.
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Don't touch that dial.
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Don't touch that dial!
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As the show went to commercial, the host said, 'Don't touch that dial; we'll be back shortly.'
Antonyms
23
1.3
Switch to a different television channel by pressing a button or using the remote
Surface Forms
Morphology
The instruction is directly composed from its parts: 'don't' + 'touch' + 'that' + 'dial' yields a clear command not to manipulate the round control, and a B1 learner who knows 'dial' as a control can infer the intended request not to change the station/channel. Although tied to broadcasting context, the meaning is a straightforward, compositional extension of the literal words rather than an arbitrary idiom, so it should be immediately comprehensible to learners who know the constituents.
Etymology
Don't touch that dial comes from old radios and TVs where the round dial changed the station. Announcers said it during breaks so people would 'stay tuned'.