student asking question

Is he trying to say that 'that body is not a toy, so don't play with the body as you are playing with a toy' or 'that body is not a joke, it's something else'?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

It could be both, honestly! But here I think he's saying to treat it properly because it's not a toy- so 'don't play with it like it is a toy.' It also works better comparing it to a toy object since he's saying not to play with it like it is an object. In terms of the body not being a joke, a phrase that could work well instead of "that body is not a toy" is "This is not a game," which ironically it is in this context, but it implies that the situation is serious, and not something to mess around with. Ex: That phone is not a toy. You need to take better care of it. Ex: This is not a game. This is your exams we're talking about. You need to take this seriously and study.

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