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MrPernickety Posted 17 years ago
Vocabulary
Meaning of "what's to say"
Hi, guys
I'm trying to work out the meaning of "what's to say". From American corpus I got these uses of it:
1. What's to say the blood didn't get there during one of those altercations
2. So putting a million dollars into an apartment, there is a lot of nervousness that, you know, what 's to say this can't be worth $700,000 in a year from now
My money says its meaning is along the same lines as "who can guarantee"
Am I correct ? If not, could you please offer your explanation
Thanks !
I'm trying to work out the meaning of "what's to say". From American corpus I got these uses of it:
1. What's to say the blood didn't get there during one of those altercations
2. So putting a million dollars into an apartment, there is a lot of nervousness that, you know, what 's to say this can't be worth $700,000 in a year from now
My money says its meaning is along the same lines as "who can guarantee"
Am I correct ? If not, could you please offer your explanation
Thanks !
Top answer
" She thinks she's going to move to Hollywood and be a big star. It's a crazy plan, but who's to say she won't succeed? Think of the "what" as a thing whereas the "who" is a person.
- " She thinks she's going to move to Hollywood and be a big star.
- It's a crazy plan, but who's to say she won't succeed?
- Think of the "what" as a thing whereas the "who" is a person.
- "
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4 Answers
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It's more like, "Where is evidence to contradict my point?"
A similar expression is "Who's to say."
She thinks she's going to move to Hollywood and be a big star. It's a crazy plan, but who's to say she won't succeed?
Think of the "what" as a thing whereas the "who" is a person. On the other hand, some sloppy speakers use "what" when they really should say "who
A similar expression is "Who's to say."
She thinks she's going to move to Hollywood and be a big star. It's a crazy plan, but who's to say she won't succeed?
Think of the "what" as a thing whereas the "who" is a person. On the other hand, some sloppy speakers use "what" when they really should say "who
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MrPernickety1. What's to say the blood didn't get there during one of those altercationsNote that these examples are followed by a negative statement, which is the typical use I think. What's to say can be used a challenge to prove the opposing case, like How do you know that .... If you reverse the polarity of the statement that follow
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Hi Cali
I was wondering if you could say
Who's to say... instead of what's to say?
Thank you
I was wondering if you could say
Who's to say... instead of what's to say?
Thank you
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