What is in it for A
Hello everyone. I have a couple of questions about the following passage:
Cases of animals apparently making sacrifices, occasionally of their own lives, to help others are not rare in nature. But at first sight they are surprising. What is in it for the sacrificer? The usual answer is that the beneficiary is a relative who will be able to carry genes found in the sacrificer into the next generation.
Q1 Could you please tell me what "What is in it for the sacrificer?" means in the above passage? I think that the pronoun it in this question represents "the act of making sacrifices," and that we can paraphrase it as "What benefit does the act of making sacrifices have for the sacrificer?" What do you think?
Q2 If my idea is correct, I'd like to know another thing: Where does the meaning of "benefit" come from? Does it derive from the construction "What is in it for A?" in itself? Or is it from this particular context?
Top answer
" means in the above passage? What is the advantage for the sacrificer? seagull Where does the meaning of "benefit" come from?
- " means in the above passage?
- What is the advantage for the sacrificer?
- seagull Where does the meaning of "benefit" come from?
- " in itself?
- Yes, that is an idiomatic phrase.
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seagullQ1 Could you please tell me what "What is in it for the sacrificer?" means in the above passage?
What is the advantage for the sacrificer?
seagullWhere does the meaning of "benefit" come from? Does it derive from the construction "What is in it for A?" in itself?
Yes, that is an idiomatic phrase. I t
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