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Palinkasocsi Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
It's a little noisy here
Dear Friends,
Imagine that you enter a very noisy place (a disco or something) with your friend and you say to him/her:
(1) It's a little noisy here.
My questions are as follows:
1. Does (1) necessarily imply in English that you had had prior expectations about the noise level (that it should be a quieter place) before you entered that place?
2. Can the understatement in (1) factually state that it is noisy there? That is, can 'little' have a non-figurative (though not literal) meaning? Like when someone is saying (with no ironic intent): It's a bit noisy here.
Thanks for your suggestions.
Palinkasocsi
Imagine that you enter a very noisy place (a disco or something) with your friend and you say to him/her:
(1) It's a little noisy here.
My questions are as follows:
1. Does (1) necessarily imply in English that you had had prior expectations about the noise level (that it should be a quieter place) before you entered that place?
2. Can the understatement in (1) factually state that it is noisy there? That is, can 'little' have a non-figurative (though not literal) meaning? Like when someone is saying (with no ironic intent): It's a bit noisy here.
Thanks for your suggestions.
Palinkasocsi
Top answer
Hi, Imagine that you enter a very noisy place (a disco or something) with your friend and you say to him/her: (1) It's a little noisy here. My questions are as follows: 1. Does (1) necessarily imply in English that you had had prior expectations about the noise level (that it should be a quieter place) before you entered that place?
- Hi, Imagine that you enter a very noisy place (a disco or something) with your friend and you say to him/her: (1) It's a little noisy here.
- My questions are as follows: 1.
- Does (1) necessarily imply in English that you had had prior expectations about the noise level (that it should be a quieter place) before you entered that place?
- Possibly, you may have had an idea about what level of noise to expect.
- But possibly not.
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3 Answers
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Hi,
Imagine that you enter a very noisy place (a disco or something) with your friend and you say to him/her:
(1) It's a little noisy here.
My questions are as follows:
1. Does (1) necessarily imply in English that you had had prior expectations about the noise level (that it should be a quieter place) before you entered that place? Possibly, you may ha
Imagine that you enter a very noisy place (a disco or something) with your friend and you say to him/her:
(1) It's a little noisy here.
My questions are as follows:
1. Does (1) necessarily imply in English that you had had prior expectations about the noise level (that it should be a quieter place) before you entered that place? Possibly, you may ha
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Dear Clive,
Take care,
Palinkasocsi
CliveThe understatement just adds a bit of attitude to what is said.What attitude do you have in mind?
Take care,
Palinkasocsi
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Hi,
Perhaps relaxed, mildly humorous. Whatever you think understatement implies.
Clive
Perhaps relaxed, mildly humorous. Whatever you think understatement implies.
Clive
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