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SweetFreedom Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
Let them worry away?
Does "let them worry away" mean "let them keep worrying"?
Context:
the Cambridge nor the Oxford astronomer really believed that
theologians have any expertise that enables them to answer
questions that are too deep for science. I suspect that both
astronomers were, yet again, bending over backwards to be polite:
theologians have nothing worthwhile to say about anything else;
let's throw them a sop and let them worry away at a couple of
questions that nobody can answer and maybe never will. Unlike my
astronomer friends, I don't think we should even throw them a sop.
I have yet to see any good reason to suppose that theology (as
opposed to biblical history, literature, etc.) is a subject at all.
Context:
the Cambridge nor the Oxford astronomer really believed that
theologians have any expertise that enables them to answer
questions that are too deep for science. I suspect that both
astronomers were, yet again, bending over backwards to be polite:
theologians have nothing worthwhile to say about anything else;
let's throw them a sop and let them worry away at a couple of
questions that nobody can answer and maybe never will. Unlike my
astronomer friends, I don't think we should even throw them a sop.
I have yet to see any good reason to suppose that theology (as
opposed to biblical history, literature, etc.) is a subject at all.
Top answer
Yes, but worry in this context has a slightly different sense than usual. It doesn't mean to be anxious about something, it means to work persistently at a problem. A dog may worry a bone, which means it gnaws on it persistently, and the idea here is that someone works on a problem the same way.
- Yes, but worry in this context has a slightly different sense than usual.
- It doesn't mean to be anxious about something, it means to work persistently at a problem.
- A dog may worry a bone, which means it gnaws on it persistently, and the idea here is that someone works on a problem the same way.
- They are going to give the theologians a "bone" to gnaw on to keep them occupied.
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1 Answers
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Yes, but worry in this context has a slightly different sense than usual. It doesn't mean to be anxious about something, it means to work persistently at a problem. A dog may worry a bone, which means it gnaws on it persistently, and the idea here is that someone works on a problem the same way. They are going to give the theologians a "bone" to gnaw on to keep them occupied.
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