Learn English – What does “I must have you dance” mean
meaning
What does "I must have you dance" mean? What kind of a sentence is it?
Best Answer
The only way I can make sense of that sentence is someone expressing his or her strong desire to induce the dancer to dance for him or her. Although not all may agree, I think of this sort of construction as a part of high-society small talk.
[polite conversation]
1: I quite enjoy the arts, don't you?
2: Yes, I certainly do. As a matter of fact, I'm a dancer.
1: Wonderful! I own a dance hall, I must have you dance sometime.
The relevant entry is 7c; none of the others really fit the context:
7 [mass noun] the state of a sports player or team with regard to their current standard of play: they are one of the best teams around on current form
details of previous performances by a racehorse or greyhound: an interested bystander studying the form
a person’s mood and state of health: she seemed to be on good form
British informal a criminal record: they both had form
In OED it’s moved down to 16c:
c. slang. (Without preceding article.) A ‘police record’; a criminal conviction.
In this case it doesn't actually mean “a criminal record”; it means “a history of criminality” or “a history of conflict against each other”.
Best Answer
The only way I can make sense of that sentence is someone expressing his or her strong desire to induce the dancer to dance for him or her. Although not all may agree, I think of this sort of construction as a part of high-society small talk.