Online dictionary for freewheel:
Assuming the actual meaning intended in the OP was something like “coasting to a stop” as opposed to “skidding across the highway,” then the usage matches the dictionary definition (save the use of the hyphen: “freewheel” v. “free-wheel”).
That’s true. However, a description of coasting (neutral gear or clutch disengaged, not braking) is not an obvious element of some hypothetical car accident. Given the other errors, I strongly suspect that the context will reveal that the writer’s intended meaning was “out of control”, for which freewheeling would certainly be wrong.
Overdrive. I had that in my 1960 Rambler; it was a knob you pulled out under the dash. It disengaged the clutch (I think) and allowed the engine RPMs to drop to idle when you took your foot off the gas.
I dropped the teacher a polite email, asking for her input (the spelling is set at a school, not class level).
These are not idiomatic Singaporeanisms, (is that correct usage?) nor are they Singapore slang, but they are very typical of the sorts of mistakes I see made day in and day out - which is why I took the time to drop the teacher an email even though it’s a very small matter to bug a teacher over in the grander scheme of things. Especially as I don’t want to get a reputation that sort of parent.
Hmmm…I would call it a proper analogy - and easily understandable, but I don’t really think what a skier does to fresh powder is comparable to what a knife does to butter…
As to the school…
a) it’s a very small thing, and in context of what else the school does well, it doesn’t prompt any desire to change. Besides - I wouldn’t have any confidence that any other school is going to do better
b) Changing schools is not that simple around here, especially as it’s her last year of Primary schooling
I don’t think anyone else has pointed this out yet, but unlike the others, #5 is not a complete sentence, so if it’s supposed to be, that’s certainly an error.
Do you mean article? Of is a prep, but “a” is an article.
It’s not wrong, just metaphorically weird. As said above, freewheeling can mean loose and unrestrained–qualities that certainly apply to a car skidding out of control. But it makes for an awkward sentence since the literal meaning of freewheeling can also apply to a car, just not in a way that applies to one about to be in an accident.
I wonder if the etymology of freewheeling comes not from the mechanical device but the act of wheeling, in the sense of making wide circles (wheeling seagulls; kids wheeling through a field; etc.).
If it’s used metaphorically to describe a car skidding out of control, it’s wrong. It’s the kind of mistake that somebody might make by looking it up in the dictionary and misunderstanding, rather than learning it by experiencing its use in context by native speakers. The metaphor means carefree, not held back, unconstrained by rules - not hurtling out of control toward injury or death!
Those aren’t mutually exclusive. A freewheeling person might be addicted to drugs, for instance, and headed for disaster. We recognize that there’s some charm in not following societal norms and yet there’s a high likelihood that things aren’t going to end well.
I agree that it sounds like something written by a non-native speaker, though. Just not with the implication that freewheeling is necessarily a positive trait.
And it should be a HOT knife through butter to be faithful to the original analogy.
Teacher got back to me today.
Defended the word choices of freewheeling, blaze and riled.
Said the grammar was wrong.
I don’t accept the word choices. Now have to think how to explain to the kid and what I want her to do to learn the right meanings of the words.
If the full text that you are quoting from is meant to be a dramatic account of a car accident then I suppose any word choice could be defended. The question is though, is it effective?
Of the three examples above I can see how “freewheeling” and “blaze” could work, but I have a problem with an accelerator being “riled”. If you are going to anthropomorphize an inanimate object, it would be more effective if the object in question could be imagined to exhibit the qualities given to it. I just can’t imagine a simple pedal getting annoyed. Maybe if it was something like:
“The driver floored the accelerator making the engine scream like a riled cat” *
Maybe teach your son the literal definition of the words, and how they might be used in a sentence, giving a few examples, e.g.
“The cyclist lifted her feet from the pedals and freewheeled to the bottom of the hill”
and examples of how they could be used creatively, e.g.
“A sudden gust of wind sent her hat freewheeling across the park” *
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