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Vocabobobo Posted 17 years ago
Vocabulary
Having a hard time interpreting a sentence
Hello. I was reading an article in a news magazine, and ran into an article that is quite difficult for me to interpret. The following sentence is found in a TIME article which discusses how the current Defense Secretery Robert Gates has been changing the Pentagon since he replaced his predecessor Donald Ramsfeld, who, according to the article, tended to marginalize people who had different opinions than his. Here's the sentence I am having a trouble with: [Gate's] nonstop effort to reforme the institution - abbeted by military rebels who had been cast into the outer darkness by the powers that were - is a great untold story of the war on terrorism.
Could someone help me interpreting the above sentence? The part that is in bold and italicized is the part that is troubling me (What were the powers exactly?).
Thank you so much in advance.
Could someone help me interpreting the above sentence? The part that is in bold and italicized is the part that is troubling me (What were the powers exactly?).
Thank you so much in advance.
Top answer
"the powers that be" is an expression meaning "the people in charge", "the people who hold the power". Here the author is making a play on words and putting this stock expression in the past tense ("the powers that were") to indicate that he's talking about the people who used to be in charge in the past.
- "the powers that be" is an expression meaning "the people in charge", "the people who hold the power".
- Here the author is making a play on words and putting this stock expression in the past tense ("the powers that were") to indicate that he's talking about the people who used to be in charge in the past.
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2 Answers
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"the powers that be" is an expression meaning "the people in charge", "the people who hold the power". Here the author is making a play on words and putting this stock expression in the past tense ("the powers that were") to indicate that he's talking about the people who used to be in charge in the past.
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Thank you so much, Mr. Wordy, for your quick and helpful reply.
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