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My dad doesn't want me to touch alcohol before I turn 21.

Is it perfectly natural to use 'touch' here? I searched for it and found some examples, but not enough to make me sure.

Bobobobobo11
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    Yes, I think it is natural. I guess the connection is here that touch means come/make/have contact with. – Jyrki Lahtonen May 08 '22 at 14:59
  • What's gonna happen when you turn 21 that you can touch alcohol afterwords?! –  May 09 '22 at 08:26
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    @user48, this is most likely an excerpt from the US where it is illegal to drink alcohol before age 21. The father does not want his child to have alcohol before they are legally allowed to. – Seth R May 09 '22 at 13:04
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    @SethR - while purchase and public possession of alcohol by people aged less than 21 are forbidden by federal law in the USA, the legal details for consumption vary greatly. While a few states completely ban alcohol usage for people under 18, the majority have exceptions that permit consumption. For example, in Wisconsin, persons aged 18 to 20 can legally drink at home or in a bar or restaurant with a parent, guardian, or spouse 21 or older. – Michael Harvey May 09 '22 at 14:03
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    @MichaelHarvey, yeah, it is complicated, but I wanted to keep the explanation simple. – Seth R May 09 '22 at 14:03
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    The phrasing is not really "natural", but a very common usage. The intended meaning of "touch" in your sentence is to emphasize avoiding contact of any kind. A similar substitution with the same meaning is "look at". – Suncat2000 May 09 '22 at 16:44
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    @Suncat2000 What is the difference between "natural" and "very common usage" to you? – Azor Ahai -him- May 09 '22 at 17:32
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    @SethR - you could just have written 'this is most likely an excerpt from the US where it can be illegal to drink alcohol before age 21 in some states.' – Michael Harvey May 09 '22 at 21:54
  • @SethR Thanks for the explanation. –  May 10 '22 at 07:14
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    @user48 - He'll have to settle for muttering comments about their poor life choices, like normal parents. – Richard May 10 '22 at 20:21
  • @AzorAhai-him- Natural would be the literal meaning. In this instance, "touch" is bring used as an exaggeration of "consume", which is not the natural meaning. – Suncat2000 May 11 '22 at 02:03
  • Sounds totally natural to me, if that is not a natural phrase I don't know what is. I thought the general sense of ''natural'' in languages was just sounds normal or sounds like something a native would say. – Hollis Williams May 11 '22 at 16:58

3 Answers3

65

It is a form of clichéd hyperbole, but so natural and common that it may not be noticed as such. What the father literally wants is for the child not to drink alcohol. Drinking generally requires touching, but it is possible to touch without drinking. (The same father may sometimes tell the child, "Bring me a can of beer," and not think himself inconsistent.) The point is to make the prohibition exaggerated and emphatic -- don't even touch it (let alone drink it). A more extreme version would be, "Don't touch it with a ten-foot pole."

nanoman
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  • The father might even tell the child to use disincectants which contain mostly ethanol. – Jan May 09 '22 at 13:49
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    Technically, in the "Bring me a can of beer" case, he's touching the can, not the alcohol. – dan04 May 09 '22 at 16:13
  • @dan04, but the same father might still not like it if the kid helped their friends carry their drinks, or otherwise facilitated drinking... Also, if we go by the technical sense of touching the can/bottle, that only works for unopened containers. After the drinking is done, the kid couldn't help clean up, as the containers could now have remains of the drink spilled on the outside. ;) – ilkkachu May 10 '22 at 07:18
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    I think there's also a slight implication to not get involved with it at all. ie. don't hang around friends/people that drink/bars/back alleys/etc – Aequitas May 11 '22 at 06:52
  • or a twenty foot rusty halberd – George Menoutis May 11 '22 at 13:14
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Yes, it is perfectly natural. Not to touch something can mean to avoid or reject it.

Kate Bunting
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"I came in touch with alcohol at a young age"
"I came in touch with jazz during college"

Is a phrasing you more often see the use of touch in.

But your sentence is perfectly fine as well.
As shown in the second example, it does not have to be physical.

SirDuckduck
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    This answer is entirely off-base. – Jeffrey Carney May 09 '22 at 08:44
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    "I came in touch with alcohol" sounds like a humorous way of saying alcohol became a major part of their lives -- an important part of themselves that was missing before they discovered it. Like an unapologetic alcoholic. Very different sentiment. – JounceCracklePop May 09 '22 at 15:30
  • It's not totally off base - it's just unclear as to what the relevance is. – Azor Ahai -him- May 09 '22 at 17:31
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    @JounceCracklePop as in I came in touch with my inner alcoholic – fdomn-m May 11 '22 at 15:44
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    Aren't the meaning and use of "My dad doesn't want me to touch…" and "I came in touch with…" too different for useful comparison… or is that what JounceCracklePop meant? – Robbie Goodwin May 11 '22 at 17:00
  • @RobbieGoodwin yes, I believe that's what JounceCracklePop is also saying; "very different sentiment" – fdomn-m May 11 '22 at 17:19