leave well enough alone

Question

Hi everyone,In a sentence below, is it possible to understand 'He' as the one who makes the mess ?Just I couldn't picture the situation well so... would you comment some for me?Thankspbex)He couldn't just leave well enough alone - and now look at the mess we're in.

Terryxpress · Accepted Answer

In the sentence below, is it possible to understand 'He' as the one who (made/caused) the mess ?

It's just that I can't picture the situation. Could you comment please?

Thanks
Yes and no. "He" didn't actually make any mess, but by his meddling, some action, or something he said, he caused changes that resulted in a messy situation. It usually doesn't mean a mess in the sense of dirt, or mud, or mess as in an untidy room, but that it is going to be very hard to correct it, to get out of the situation. To help you picture it:
A group of people have been organized to decorate a hall for a wedding, and there isn't much time to get it all done. One of the people there says something that offends, or angers, or makes others indignant, and they walk out, refusing to help any further. The person organizing the decoration of the hall might say to him, Now look at the mess you've got us in. The wedding's at 2pm and we'll never get it done in time. I promised the bride's parents we'd have it ready. They're going to be furious. ( and so the person not only has the problem of still trying to get the hall decorated, but also dealing with the angry parents of the bride.)

Anonymous · Answer

NO

Marius Hancu · Answer

Terry,

As usual, a very nice explanation

May I suggest using a marking (say another color for the text, italics or bold, etc) for the question you're quoting? The separation from your answer would be more clear.

Or just Q and A:-)

leave well enough alone

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