mayday
part of speech
noun (mayday, maydays); exclamation (Mayday!)
meaning for a pupil
1) The international radio call for help used by ships and aircraft in great danger, said three times: "Mayday, mayday, mayday". tree →
2) (informal) Any urgent call for help. tree →
3) May Day (two words, capital letters) is a different thing: the first day of May, a spring festival and a workers' holiday. tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories and safety lessons "Mayday!" tells the reader that a pilot or captain is in life-or-death danger, such as an engine failure or a sinking boat. It is only for real emergencies; using it falsely is a crime. Phrases: send a mayday, a mayday call, put out a mayday. "Pan-pan" is the smaller urgent call when there is no immediate danger to life.
examples
- "Mayday, mayday, mayday! Our engine is on fire!" shouted the pilot. tree →
- The fishing boat sent a mayday when it began to sink. tree →
- The coastguard answered the mayday call within seconds. tree →
- Never say "mayday" on a radio as a joke. tree →
- My sister's text was a total mayday: "Help, I forgot my homework!" tree →
- In the film, the captain put out a mayday before the storm hit. tree →
- On May Day we danced round a maypole at school. tree →
note
It comes from the French "m'aider" (help me), which sounds like "mayday". Written with a small letter or capital (Mayday!) when it is a call; written "May Day" for the spring holiday. It is said three times so it cannot be mistaken. Trap: do not mix up mayday (help!) with May Day (festival).
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «mayday» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.