student asking question

Does "...ing around ~ing" mean "While ~ing, keep ...ing" ? What does it mean?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Yes, "standing around doing something" means that while you are standing around, you are continuing to do something else. "Standing around" by itself means to continue to stand, so the general meaning of this structure is that you keep doing one verb while standing. In this case, they mention "standing around shaking cream" which means to stand and continue to shake cream. Ex: Stop standing around doing nothing. Ex: She is standing around listening to music. Ex: Don't stand around hoping that you'll find your dog, go out and find him yourself!

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