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PonyFan Posted 13 years ago
Vocabulary

Hold your breath?

"But I wouldn't hold your breath"

Could you tell me what "hold your breath" in here means? Thanks in advance!

The sentence is quoted from http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xsky32_my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-season-1-episode-1-the-mare-in-the-moon-captioned_shortfilms#.UeVq3m1heVo at 05:38

The transcription is available in http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/Transcripts/Friendship_is_Magic,_part_1
  

Top answer

"don't hold your breath" (and slight variants such as this) is a set expression meaning "don't expect it (whatever is being referred to) to happen any time soon, or at all".

— GPY

  • "don't hold your breath" (and slight variants such as this) is a set expression meaning "don't expect it (whatever is being referred to) to happen any time soon, or at all".
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3 Answers
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"don't hold your breath" (and slight variants such as this) is a set expression meaning "don't expect it (whatever is being referred to) to happen any time soon, or at all".
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So considering the context, the sentence can be paraphrased as "I wouldn't expect that the Princess takes immediate action soon", correct?
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As far as I can tell, it could be referring to the Princess taking action (per "Something must be done" in the letter), or it could just be referring to the Princess replying (per "I await your quick response").

In case it matters, "I wouldn't expect that the Princess takes immediate action soon" is not such a great sentence. You can say "I wouldn't expect the Princess to take immediate a
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