0
Nessie000 Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

'The collapse of US retailing in...'

Hi,

Please have a look at this:

The collapse of US retailing in September 2008, called by some a hundred-year flood, signaled a fundamental shift in consumer behaviour.

=> Does that it is the collapse that was caused/initiated by a flood that very rarely happens?

Many thanks,

Nessie.
  

Top answer

Hi Nessie This phrase should not be read literally. A flood is a type of disaster and the part about the hundred-year is implying a recurring event, though not a frequent one. I think that they are refering to the fact that economies can not keep growing quickly forever, at some stage the economies will suffer a bad spell.

— Adrenochrome

  • Hi Nessie This phrase should not be read literally.
  • A flood is a type of disaster and the part about the hundred-year is implying a recurring event, though not a frequent one.
  • I think that they are refering to the fact that economies can not keep growing quickly forever, at some stage the economies will suffer a bad spell.
  • Strictly, the last significant collapse on this scale was teh Great Depression in America in the 1920s - just 80 years ago.
  • It simply refers to the idea of a cyclical collapse, that like trying to hold back the sea, can not be avoided.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

4 Answers
0
Hi Nessie

This phrase should not be read literally. A flood is a type of disaster and the part about the hundred-year is implying a recurring event, though not a frequent one.

I think that they are refering to the fact that economies can not keep growing quickly forever, at some stage the economies will suffer a bad spell. Strictly, the last significant collapse on this scale wa
0
0
If you look at weather patterns over a long period of time, you can estimate how high flood waters will reach in most situations. Sometimes, you'll have a period of rain that is so intense that there are floods that are more extreme than what you would expect. Such floods are called "hundred-year floods" implying that they would only happen once every hundred years.

(There are actually m
0
0
Thank you very much, Adrenochrome Emotion: smile

By the way, what exactly does 'called by' here mean?
0
0
'called by some' just means that 'some people describe it as' - it's a form of ellipsis.
0

Related Questions