an English question

@dufresne (137)
China
May 11, 2009 10:00am CST
In the sentence "One guy I had been friendly with for years saw me at Le Cirque and for the first time in my life called me "Mr Trump." He had always called me "Donald." That was a real heads-up.", I've found that in dictionary, heads-up means "fully alert", but I do feel it ought to mean "showing respect" in this situation,am I right? Looking forward to your wisdom, please.
4 responses
mrtimharry
@mrtimharry (1180)
•
11 May 09
heads-up means an indication or warning of something having changed.
dufresne
@dufresne (137)
• China
11 May 09
You are really a brief man, and I think you will do better as a boss than as staff.
mrtimharry
@mrtimharry (1180)
•
11 May 09
Was in a rush so didn't have much time to expand on the answer.
dufresne
@dufresne (137)
• China
11 May 09
Never mind. I didn't have the slightest hint to blame you, and quite on the contrary, I still appreciated your initiative answer! And I do hope you will have better career opportunity someday to be a boss!
beki710
@beki710 (949)
•
11 May 09
In this case I feel that it means a bit of a shock or realisation. Heads up I always take to mean that you become aware of something that you were not aware of before. So in this sentence the man has suddenly realised how far he has come in his career as a friend is now addressing him as 'Mr' - That's how I read it anyway!
beki710
@beki710 (949)
•
11 May 09
I'm quite interested in English - I took A-Levels in English Language and English Literature, so I guess I do have some knowledge! I'm just happy to help
dufresne
@dufresne (137)
• China
11 May 09
You do have a good command of English! Your answer is trenchant even without seeing the whole paragraph. I guess you must have done well in your lesson of English Literature or the likes. Thank you!
scarlet_woman
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
12 May 09
in that sense it could be seen as a compliment,or showing respect,definetly.
Q_Savvy
@Q_Savvy (131)
• India
11 May 09
I believe it might mean "fully alert", because if someone calls a person by their first name (Donald in this case), it usually signifies friendship and not really a formal relationship, but when that someone starts saying "Mr Trump", i.e. using the surname, it begins to sound official, not so friendly. So perhaps this person thought that there was a reason for this change and he should worry about it. I'm not entirely sure but I think that is what it would mean.
dufresne
@dufresne (137)
• China
11 May 09
Thank you for joining us. But the answer above I think is more appropriate. We have all studied sth new, right? Happy mylotting!