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Stenka25 Posted 15 years ago
Vocabulary

The meaning of "for once"

The below sentence is from the song "Wishlist" by Pearl Jam.

I wish I was a neutron bomb, for once I could go off.

What I'm not sure is the meaning of "for."
At a glance it seems conjunction. In a dictionary, "for" as a conjunction only has one meaning, "because."

Is that right or has "for" some other meaning I didn't know about?

Thanks.


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Top answer

Hi, 'For once' is a rtather idiomatic expression. You need a context where something never happens, but it suddenly does on one special occasion. eg My boss never is a very serious guy, he never smiles.

  • Hi, 'For once' is a rtather idiomatic expression.
  • You need a context where something never happens, but it suddenly does on one special occasion.
  • eg My boss never is a very serious guy, he never smiles.
  • But yesterday, for once, he smiled at me.
  • eg The weather here is always mild.
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1 Answers
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Hi,

'For once' is a rtather idiomatic expression.

You need a context where something never happens, but it suddenly does on one special occasion.

eg My boss never is a very serious guy, he never smiles. But yesterday, for once, he smile

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