Thread: some questions
View Single Post
  #2 (permalink)  
Old 15-Oct-2006, 10:28
boothling boothling is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Country: England
Posts: 146
Current Location: Spain
First Language: English
Member Type: English Teacher
Thanks: 0
Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
boothling is on a distinguished road
Default Re: some questions

Might as well

This is quite difficult to explain! My grammar book says:

"Might as well is used to compare one unpleasant situation with another."

So in this case: because he can't see anything outside the window, he could be looking at a painted board. It's a way of saying that you could be something - but you're not literally that thing.

"It's so dark, I can't see anything. I might as well be blind."
"He never talks to me. I might as well not exist."

It's also used in another way:

"I'll never win the race. I might as well not run."
"There's nothing on at the cinema. We might as well stay in."

I don't know if that helps. Perhaps somebody else can explain more effectively.

Rocking on the points

I imagine that he teacher is rocking back on his heels - leaning back and then forwards again. If the heels have been word down to wedges, the point would be the very back of the heel.

holes augured in it

I've never heard "augured" used in this way, and I can't find any definition that would fit. As you've probably found already, augur means to predict, so the use of the word here makes no sense.

Okay, found the explanation: auger --* Encyclopędia Britannica

It's either a spelling mistake, or the author has confused the two words. If an auger is a drill, then conceivably the word could be used as a verb meaning to drill, although I can't find any dictionary that lists it as a verb.

Hey, I learned something! Thanks.
Reply With Quote