it couldn't have come at a worse time

Question

Could you please explain this sentence to me

"It couldn't have come at a worse time, in the sense that with business investment weakening, and with the housing market, at least in activity terms, having turned, that's where the timing is unfortunate for us"

Does this complicated sentence simply mean: It is the worst time now because the business investment is weakening and the housing market becomes less active than ever before?

Could you please tell me more about the use of " it couldn't have come at a worse time", I just guess the meaning of this phrase according to the context, I don't understand it thoroughly.

Could I replace " in the sense that" with " in the aspects of " or " in the fact that"?

And why the author used "where' in this sentence?

Thanks in advance.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Could you please explain this sentence to me

"It couldn't have come at a worse time, in the sense that with business investment weakening, and with the housing market, at least in activity terms, having turned, that's where the timing is unfortunate for us"

Does this complicated sentence simply mean: It is the worst time now because the business investment is weakening and the housing market becomes less active than ever before? Yes, basically.

Could you please tell me more about the use of " it couldn't have come at a worse time", I just guess the meaning of this phrase according to the context, I don't understand it thoroughly. Consider this simpler example.

Last week, I bought a new house and a new car, and my wife had twins. This morning, my boss told me that I was fired. The news could not have come at a worse time.

Could I replace " in the sense that" with " in the aspects of " or " in the fact that"? No. 'In the sense of' is used to tell the reader that you are going to explain the meaning of what has been said. You could say 'I mean that . . . ' or 'because of the fact that . . . '

And why the author used "where' in this sentence? He means 'That's the place/point/situation in which . . '

eg Mary wants me to marry her. She's beautiful. She's rich. But I don't love her. That's where the problem is.

Best wishes, Clive

Kirakira · Answer

Thank you, Mr Clive.

"Last week, I bought a new house and a new car, and my wife had twins. This morning, my boss told me that I was fired. The news could not have come at a worse time".

According to your example, I think may be the meaning of this phrase is roughly like this: "It seems that everything is very wonderful, then suddenly bad things happen, and you say : the bad thing couldn't have come at a worse time". Have I gotten the right idea?

So, in the sentence about business, it is implied that the economy had been doing very well before these terrible things(weakening investment....) happened, isn't it?

Nona the brit · Answer

No, you are missing the purpose of the first part of the sentence. The person isn't saying 'everything is wonderful' - they are saying 'I've just taken on a big mortgage, paid out lots of money for a car, and got two new babies to support. I'm committed to paying for lots of expensive things. I need a good income to pay for all this ...and now I haven't got a job. What a disaster! This is the worst time for me to lose my job'

Kirakira · Answer

Thank you, Ms Nona the Brit

.Without your explanation, I would have totally misunderstood this

it couldn't have come at a worse time

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