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MissLadybird Posted 12 years ago
Vocabulary
"beat the dents out of cans"
In an article about Dharavi, a slum district in Mumbai, there is a phrase I do not quite understand. Here it is:
"We also visit a biscuit factory, the textiles quarter, and an entire recycling quarter, full of 60 workshops where labourers are beating the dents out of old oil cans."
Does that mean they hit the cans with something heavy to dent them and make them flat, this way making it easier to transport the scrap metal to another place?
"We also visit a biscuit factory, the textiles quarter, and an entire recycling quarter, full of 60 workshops where labourers are beating the dents out of old oil cans."
Does that mean they hit the cans with something heavy to dent them and make them flat, this way making it easier to transport the scrap metal to another place?
Top answer
When I take my car to the body shop, they try to make it look new. They beat the dents (dings) out of the side doors which have been dented in the parking lot. To beat the dents out means to make the cans in their original shape, possibly so the cans can be reused as cans, not as scrap.
- When I take my car to the body shop, they try to make it look new.
- They beat the dents (dings) out of the side doors which have been dented in the parking lot.
- To beat the dents out means to make the cans in their original shape, possibly so the cans can be reused as cans, not as scrap.
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2 Answers
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When I take my car to the body shop, they try to make it look new. They beat the dents (dings) out of the side doors which have been dented in the parking lot. To beat the dents out means to make the cans in their original shape, possibly so the cans can be reused as cans, not as scrap.
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So it is just the opposite of what I thought it was! Thanks a lot 
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