Re: conurbation/to his name/a bare four kilometre/a alarm go off/back-seat driving
Originally Posted by vil
Would you be kind enough to tell me whether I am right with my interpretation of the expressions in bold in the following sentences?
London and Manchester are no longer called even cities, they’re conurbations, or bunches of towns.
conurbation = a predominantly urban region including adjacent towns and suburbs; a metropolitan area=A large urban area involving several contiguous communities, formed as a result of expansion of neighboring areas.
How can he afford a car, he hasn’t got a penny to his name.
to his name = in his possession
Uptohisname is a common phrase. A dog called Lucky lived up to his name when he was rescued from being nearly mauled by a tiger.
It’s a bare four kilometers, we can walk it in less than an hour.
a bare ten kilos = scarcely ten kilos, not abit more than ten kilos
The alarm went off at six, but I’m afraid I didn’t hear it.
gone off = the bell of an alrm clock is said to go off, not ring= It can be accepted in the sense that it is an abrupt function
I hipe you’re not going to do any back-seat driving, Fred.
back-seat driving = the tendering of advice to the driver by a person sitting behind him, a dangerous habit that has caused many road accidents, since it distracts the driver’s attention.
Here we go, now we’ll keep at a steady crawl almost all the way to Dtratford. After that it’s all plain sailing.
I haven’t seen your father for years; how’s he keeping?
How’s Tom keeping? = What is the state of Tom’s health? Is he keeping in good health?
That evening gown must have set her back at least five hundred Euros.
Set your back = reduces (i.e. sets back) your bank balance= To cost money
Yes, I did promise to seee him today, now I come to think of it.
Now I come to think of it. = Now that I remember it.
Thank you for your efforts.
All seem Ok. However, I think, in the “bare four kilometers” the word ‘bare’ being an adjective can better be modified by an adverb ‘barely’ It's barely 1.5 km from the airport and four km from the railway station