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HSS Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
Be-All and End-All
Could anyone please help me understand how "be-all and end-all" comes to mean "the quintessential or all-important element"?
[1] They think the fashion is the be-all and end-all of existence.
Hiro/ Sendai, Japan
[1] They think the fashion is the be-all and end-all of existence.
Hiro/ Sendai, Japan
Top answer
I would say that it means "the reason for existing".
- I would say that it means "the reason for existing".
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3 Answers
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Thanks for the post, Feebs11.
I just fail to see the logic leading to the meaning (that I found in a dictionary). Would you be so kind as to elaborate on your meaning, how "be-all and end-all" comes to mean "reason"? What do "be-all" and "end-all" mean anyway?
One of my dictionaries says:
Be-all: the whole; all that is to be.
End-all: the ultimate purpose, obje
I just fail to see the logic leading to the meaning (that I found in a dictionary). Would you be so kind as to elaborate on your meaning, how "be-all and end-all" comes to mean "reason"? What do "be-all" and "end-all" mean anyway?
One of my dictionaries says:
Be-all: the whole; all that is to be.
End-all: the ultimate purpose, obje
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"the end-all" is the thing that is final/ definitive... I don't know if this helps (taken from the Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary):
the be-all and end-all =
the final aim apart from which nothing is of any real importance
Example: This job isn't the be-all and end-all of existence.
the be-all and end-all =
the final aim apart from which nothing is of any real importance
Example: This job isn't the be-all and end-all of existence.
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