czenglish-bigCzenglish

I have no fantasy vs. I have no imagination

B1- B1 B2 C1

WRONG: I need to think up a marketing strategy but I have no fantasy.
RIGHT: I need to think up a marketing strategy but I have no imagination.

Pay attention to this week’s Czenglish error because if you get it wrong there is potential for embarrassment. The word fantasy means two things in English. The first is the genre of books or films with wizards and goblins and all those Lord of the Rings style creatures.

The second is a word for dream – and quite often it is associated with sexual dreams.

So, if you say, I have no fantasy, an English listener will automatically think – Why would you tell me about your sexual dreams anyway?! So – a better word for being able to open up your brain creatively is imagination.

In the first example, saying ‘I need to think up a marketing strategy but I have no imagination’ is the correct – and safer – way of expressing a lack of ideas! Alternatively, you can simply say, ‘I have no ideas’.

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