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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
"Any of the bits"
Hi!
In : You couldn't see any of the bits or anything (referring to someone who poses naked for calendars, etc...) , the underlined part means any part of someone's body?
Why in: "...so it's almost impossible to tell she's standing there in the buff." , the writer uses the verb to tell and not to say? (I always heard that we use the verb to tell when the person for whom we are speaking appears afterwards). And "...she's standing there in the buff", means that she's there, totally naked , isn't it?
Thanks,
Gladys
In : You couldn't see any of the bits or anything (referring to someone who poses naked for calendars, etc...) , the underlined part means any part of someone's body?
Why in: "...so it's almost impossible to tell she's standing there in the buff." , the writer uses the verb to tell and not to say? (I always heard that we use the verb to tell when the person for whom we are speaking appears afterwards). And "...she's standing there in the buff", means that she's there, totally naked , isn't it?
Thanks,
Gladys
Top answer
) , the underlined part means any part of someone's body? It's a short form of the humorous phrase 'the naughty bits'. " , the writer uses the verb to tell and not to say ?
- ) , the underlined part means any part of someone's body?
- It's a short form of the humorous phrase 'the naughty bits'.
- " , the writer uses the verb to tell and not to say ?
- (I always heard that we use the verb to tell when the person for whom we are speaking appears afterwards).
- One of the meanings of 'tell' is 'decide / determine / distinguish'.
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3 Answers
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Hi,
In : You couldn't see any of the bits or anything (referring to someone who poses naked for calendars, etc...) , the underlined part means any part of someone's body? It's a short form of the humorous phrase 'the naughty bits'.
In : You couldn't see any of the bits or anything (referring to someone who poses naked for calendars, etc...) , the underlined part means any part of someone's body? It's a short form of the humorous phrase 'the naughty bits'.
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There are quite a few idioms where tell is not used exactly the same as in to tell someone something.
The following are usually negative and usually followed by an indirect question or a that clause. These mean that something is not obvious or easily seen by the subject of the sentence.
can't tell / not be able to tell / impossible to tell (
The following are usually negative and usually followed by an indirect question or a that clause. These mean that something is not obvious or easily seen by the subject of the sentence.
can't tell / not be able to tell / impossible to tell (
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