# I was peeing my pants when...



## 99bottles

_I was peeing my pants when that burly guy started threatening me and my girlfriend._

I came across that sentence on the Idioms site, and it exemplifies the _pee one's pants_ idiom. My question is: Is it just me, or is the use of past continuous strange here? Wouldn't it sound more correct to say _I peed my pants when that burly guy_...?


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## Myridon

Yes, it seems to say you were already peeing your pants before the bullying started.


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## cidertree

It sounds fine to me. - something like "I was trembling with fear."

"I peed my pants" would mean to me that you actually did.

X-posted


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## 99bottles

Myridon said:


> Yes, it seems to say you were already peeing your pants before the bullying started.


So, do you agree with my suggestion to replace the past continuous with the simple past? (Post #3 seems to disagree.)


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## Roxxxannne

99bottles said:


> _I was peeing my pants when that burly guy started threatening me and my girlfriend._
> 
> I came across that sentence on the Idioms site, and it exemplifies the _pee one's pants_ idiom. My question is: Is it just me, or is the use of past continuous strange here? Wouldn't it sound more correct to say _I peed my pants when that burly guy_...?


Yes, if what you mean is that you peed in your pants because the burly guy threatened you.


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## se16teddy

I can’t explain why, but the continuous form sounds fine to me too. We use it when describing physical symptoms of an emotion - presumably hyperbolically in this case. Even when describing a past reaction to a past stimulus.


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## cidertree

99bottles said:


> So, do you agree with my suggestion to replace the past continuous with the simple past? (Post #3 seems to disagree.)


Post #3 does disagree.


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## 99bottles

Roxxxannne said:


> Yes, if what you mean is that you peed in your pants because the burly guy threatened you.


Yes to what?


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## cidertree

Yes to your question - "Wouldn't it sound more correct..."


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## 99bottles

cidertree said:


> Yes to your question - "Wouldn't it sound more correct..."


_Yes, it would_ or _Yes, it wouldn't_?


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## cidertree

99bottles said:


> _Yes, it would_ or _Yes *No*, it wouldn't_?


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## Myridon

cidertree said:


> "I peed my pants" would mean to me that you actually did.


So you're saying "I was peeing my pants" means you didn't pee your pants or are you saying that the tense means that you only metaphorically peed your pants.

I was eating some chicken when I choked on a bone. Does that  mean I didn't eat any chicken or I only metaphorically ate chicken?


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## cidertree

Yes and 

What's your take on "I was floating on air at the news."?


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## Myridon

cidertree said:


> Yes and
> 
> What's your take on "I was floating on air at the news."?


You can't answer an either/or question with "yes."
That it isn't the same as "I was floating on air when I heard the news." or "I was lying in bed when I heard the news."


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## 99bottles

cidertree said:


> It sounds fine to me. - something like "I was trembling with fear."
> 
> "I peed my pants" would mean to me that you actually did.
> 
> X-posted


If someone does so both figuratively and literally, which tense should I use? E.g.

_Suddenly, the lion roared. I peed/was peeing my pants._


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## cidertree

Myridon said:


> You can't answer an either/or question with "yes."
> That it isn't the same as "I was floating on air when I heard the news." or "I was lying in bed when I heard the news."


 Have a look at the way you phrased the question.


Myridon said:


> So you're saying "I was peeing my pants" means you didn't pee your pants or are you saying that the tense means that you only metaphorically peed your pants.


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## cidertree

99bottles said:


> If someone does so both figuratively and literally, which tense should I use? E.g.
> 
> _Suddenly, the lion roared. I peed/was peeing my pants._


I peed myself or, in my vernacular:
"I pissed myself with fright."


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## RobEv

cidertree said:


> "I was floating on air at the news."


That is exactly how I understood the original sentence. In my opinion, another way of saying that would be,

_I started peeing my pants when that burly guy started threatening me and my girlfriend._

But that would be too wordy compared to the original.


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## cidertree

It's not the way I read the original. See #3.


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## 99bottles

cidertree said:


> I peed myself or, in my vernacular:
> "I pissed myself with fright."


I just looked it up on the Idioms site, and it has the exact same sentence with _piss oneself_! 

_I was pissing myself when that huge burly guy started threatening me and my girlfriend._


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## cidertree

Yeah, I know but... "I pissed/peed myself" does not mean the same, in my vernacular, as "I was pissing/peeing myself."


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## Myridon

cidertree said:


> Yeah, I know but... "I pissed/peed myself" does not mean the same, in my vernacular, as "I was pissing/peeing myself."


There seems to be some interference between the metaphor issue and the grammar issue. Let's try to remove it.
_I was literally peeing my pants when that burly guy started threatening me and my girlfriend.
I literally peed my pants when that burly guy started threatening me and my girlfriend._

Do they mean the same thing with regard to timing and causality?


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## cidertree

You win again. I'm not in the mood to repeat myself all night.


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## 99bottles

Myridon said:


> There seems to be some interference between the metaphor issue and the grammar issue. Let's try to remove it.
> _I was literally peeing my pants when that burly guy started threatening me and my girlfriend.
> I literally peed my pants when that burly guy started threatening me and my girlfriend._
> 
> Do they mean the same thing with regard to timing and causality?


Myridon, could you please just tell me your opinion?


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## Myridon

99bottles said:


> Myridon, could you please just tell me your opinion?


My opinion is in post #2.


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## 99bottles

Myridon said:


> My opinion is in post #2.


What is your opinion about Post #15?


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## Myridon

That's a completely different construction. Stated that way, it's two completed events which happened one after the other. The progressive tense is just unnecessary there.


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## 99bottles

Myridon said:


> That's a completely different construction. Stated that way, it's two completed events which happened one after the other. The progressive tense is just unnecessary there.


Is it clear that the second event happened because of the first?


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## Loob

I just wanted to say that I agree with cidertree and disagree with Myridon.
Perhaps there's a BrE/AmE difference here?


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## LVRBC

It's even worse than an US-E vs Br-E difference, I'm afraid.  It's a nuance difference.  I was pissing my pants is metaphorical, while I pissed my pants is an actual occurrence.  ( Cidertree points this out in post #3 and I agree.)


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## Loob

LVRBC said:


> It's even worse than an US-E vs Br-E difference, I'm afraid.  It's a nuance difference.  I was pissing my pants is metaphorical, while I pissed my pants is an actual occurrence.  ( Cidertree points this out in post #3 and I agree.)


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## 99bottles

LVRBC said:


> It's even worse than an US-E vs Br-E difference, I'm afraid.  It's a nuance difference.  I was pissing my pants is metaphorical, while I pissed my pants is an actual occurrence.  ( Cidertree points this out in post #3 and I agree.)


Which takes us back to Post #15! 

What is your opinion about that?


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## Cagey

It doesn't make sense to use the phrase both literally and figurative at the same time. 
How would that work? What do you think that would mean?


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## natkretep

Loob said:


> I just wanted to say that I agree with cidertree and disagree with Myridon.
> Perhaps there's a BrE/AmE difference here?


I also agree with Loob and cidertree. The progressive/continuous makes the description more vivid. We use the progressive much more in speech than in writing to convey this sense of vividness. For me, it doesn't make a lot of difference whether it's literal or metaphorical peeing.


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## stream21

99bottles said:


> _I was peeing my pants when that burly guy started threatening me and my girlfriend._


I am curious, can the usage of the Past Continuous Tense here suggest that the atmosphere had been heavily charged before _that burly guy started threatening?_  And this just made things worse, so to speak? Or it is merely a point of grammar that seems illogical?


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## Loob

stream21 said:


> I am curious, can the usage of the Past Continuous Tense here suggest that the atmosphere had been heavily charged before _that burly guy started threatening?_ And this just made things worse, so to speak? Or it is merely a point of grammar that seems illogical?


Think of it not as a past continuous tense indicating action but as a colourful equivalent of "was very afraid".


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## 99bottles

Cagey said:


> It doesn't make sense to use the phrase both literally and figurative at the same time.
> How would that work? What do you think that would mean?


It was true both literally and figuratively at the same moment.


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## 99bottles

Loob said:


> Think of it not as a past continuous tense indicating action but as a colourful equivalent of "was very afraid".


So, with simple past, it's not very colorful?


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## Loob

With the simple past, it's a description of an action.  With the past continuous, it's a description of a feeling: a feeling of fear.


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## 99bottles

Loob said:


> With the simple past, it's a description of an action.  With the past continuous, it's a description of a feeling: a feeling of fear.


I want to write a scene that goes like this. Which tense should I use?

_The lion roared. I peed my pants -- both figuratively and literally!

The lion roared. I was peeing my pants -- both figuratively and literally!_


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## Loob

99bottles said:


> I want to write a scene that goes like this. Which tense should I use?
> 
> _The lion roared. I peed my pants -- both figuratively and literally!
> 
> The lion roared. I was peeing my pants -- both figuratively and literally!_


It it's literal, just say
_The lion roared. I peed my pants._
People won't need to ask "What made you do that?"


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## 99bottles

Loob said:


> It it's literal, just say
> _The lion roared. I peed my pants._
> People won't need to ask "What made you do that?"


But they might think that I mean it just figuratively.


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## Loob

We're going round in circles, 99bottles. See post 3, post 31...


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## 99bottles

Loob said:


> We're going round in circles, 99bottles. See post 3, post 31...


But nobody really answered. It seems there is no good answer to that.


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## Cagey

This seems to me unambiguous.


cidertree said:


> "I peed my pants" would mean to me that you actually did.


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## london calling

cidertree said:


> Yeah, I know but... "I pissed/peed myself" does not mean the same, in my vernacular, as "I was pissing/peeing myself."


Or in mine.


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