make all the sense

Question

"There are only 101 reasons why something as simple as a flu shot makes all the sense in the world right now." David Relman is a Stanford University infectious disease expert. Want to help fight Ebola? Get a flu shot.

Could you tell me what it exactly means here?
Normally, I think 'make sense' means 'be reasonable or logical or comprehensible'. However, I figure that here it should have other implication according to the Chinese translation which says 'come to public attention' and also makes sense here.

PS: Do you think '101 reasons' contains some allusions?

GPY · Accepted Answer

I think "make sense" has its normal meaning. I don't really understand the Chinese translation, unless perhaps they were attempting to incorporate "in the world". In fact, "in the world" is probably meant as an idiomatic intensifier (though the literal interpretation is not impossible).

I read 101 as an arbitrary large number, and "only" as ironic. So, the message is just that there are lots of reasons.

Rpsh · Answer

So according to your view, can I paraphrase the first sentence into 'There are a lot of reasons why something like flu shot are reasonable/comprehensible/logical in the world right now'? If right, I still feel strange about that why a disease can be reasonable or logical, although the sentence is grammatically right.

GPY · Answer

rpshSo according to your view, can I paraphrase the first sentence into 'There are a lot of reasons why something like flu shot are reasonable/comprehensible/logical in the world right now'?

There are a lot of reasons why something like a flu shot is reasonable/comprehensible/logical ...

You've broken the idiom "all the ... in the world" with your paraphrase. If you did include the words "in the world", they would have to be literal.

rpshright, I still feel strange about that why a disease can be reasonable or logical, although the sentence is grammatically right.

It is not the disease that is reasonable or logical. It is reasonable or logical to get a flu shot, i.e. a vaccination against flu.

Rpsh · Answer

Eh... I find that I misunderstand the phrase 'flu shot'. Originally, I figure it means that someone is shot by a flu, i.e. catch a flu...
Thank you for your patient explaining!

GPY · Answer

rpshEh... I find that I misunderstand the phrase 'flu shot'.

Does the Chinese translation that you referred to make the same mistake?

Rpsh · Answer

I think the translator didn't get the point of the sentence. Here is the interpretation:
"why does flu come to publicattention? There are only 101 reasons."

CalifJim · Answer

rpshmakes all the sense in the world

The idiom is "all the [...] in the world". It means "a very great amount of [...]" or "the greatest possible amount of [...]".

I wish you all the luck in the world. (the greatest possible amount of luck)
The guy deserved all the credit in the world. (the greatest possible amount of credit)
You have all the time in the world to think about it. (the greatest possible amount of time; a great deal of time)
Doctors, with all the best will in the world, can only go on what they are told. (the greatest possible amount of good will)
Calculating how much money you'll need can make all the difference in the world. (a very great difference)

... makes all the sense in the world. (makes a lot of sense; makes a great deal of sense; makes the greatest possible amount of sense)

CJ

GPY · Answer

GPYthough the literal interpretation is not impossible

Sorry, this is not correct. The literal interpretation is not possible in the original sentence, only the idiomatic one. If you interpret it literally then you are left with "makes all the sense ...", which won't work by itself. I wasn't thinking straight.

Rpsh · Answer

So it is! Your answer makes me dig deeper into the sentence. Thank you very much!

Rpsh · Answer

Got it. Comprehension should always base on context, right?

make all the sense

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