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Raen Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

"What gives?"

Sorry I don't have an example for this. But is it possible to explain what it means and when one uses this phrase? Does the word "give" have other meaning in this case? Thanks a lot.

Raen
  

Top answer

It's an idiom, so you have to ignore the normal meaning of give . " An hour before her shift was finished, Sue just got up from her desk, left the office, and drove home. [What gives?

— CalifJim

  • It's an idiom, so you have to ignore the normal meaning of give .
  • " An hour before her shift was finished, Sue just got up from her desk, left the office, and drove home.
  • [What gives?
  • ] CJ
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2 Answers
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It's an idiom, so you have to ignore the normal meaning of give. It means "What is going on?", "What is happening?", "What is the problem?", "What is wrong?", "How do you explain that?", "What is the reason for that?"

An equivalent idiom (in some of the meanings of "What gives?") is "What's up with that?"
An hour before her shift was finished, Sue just got up from her des
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Thank you so much for the explanation, I wouldn't have guessed any of the examples you gave. It's awsome to have it explained this way. Thanks a lot.

Raen
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