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Rifleman
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2004 3:34 am
Post subject: to know one when you saw one? |
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I sometimes feel like solving more than cubic equation when I see some
puzzling sentence. Please help me.
"He had been around enough of them to know one when he saw one."
Thanks,
Rifleman
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Tony Cooper
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2004 3:51 am
Post subject: Re: to know one when you saw one? |
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| Quote: | I sometimes feel like solving more than cubic equation when I see some
puzzling sentence. Please help me.
"He had been around enough of them to know one when he saw one." |
The speaker is indicating that he has had enough experience with
people with similar characteristics that he is in a position to
recognize the characteristics without any trouble. "Saw" does not
mean just seen with the eyes in this case. He's "seeing" the attitude
of the person and this may mean hearing the person speak or read the
person's writing.
If, for example, you've been around a number of bullies, you'll know
one when you see one but the recognition is based on things other than
just appearance.
The "them", in this case, is probably negative....a bully, a bigot, a
complainer, a phony, a thief, etc. It's an expression seldom used to
describe favorable characteristics. |
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Dena Jo
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2004 3:57 am
Post subject: Re: to know one when you saw one? |
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On 17 Sep 2004, Rifleman posted thus:
| Quote: | "He had been around enough of them to know one when he saw one."
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Whatever group he's talking about, he'd been around so many of them,
spent time in their presence, that he's become familiar with perhaps
the way they dress, the way they talk, their conventions, those kinds
of things. Consequently, he doesn't need to be told that someone is
a member of that group. He's able identify them as a member of the
group.
--
Dena Jo
Email goes to denajo2 at the dot com variation of the Yahoo domain.
Plonk the bastards:
http://www.schmuckwithanunderwood.com/trolls.html
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