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Thread: take the guesswork out of giving

  1. #1
    masterding is offline Member
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    Default take the guesswork out of giving

    A passage from VOA news:
    Gift registries save shopping time. They take the guesswork out of giving. But a lot of the affection, too. And they leave the stubborn few who still insist on surprising someone to quiver with doubt: "Will she like this toaster? And will she still like me?"

    My question is :
    what does "take the guesswork out of giving" mean?

    Thanks

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    Barb_D's Avatar
    Barb_D is offline Moderator
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    Default Re: take the guesswork out of giving

    When you buy a present to give to someone, you have to guess whether or not the recipient will like it.

    If the person has registered on a gift registry, you know they will like it -- they picked it out for themselves. It has removed the role of guessword (will they like this?) from the gift-giving process.
    masterding likes this.
    I'm not a teacher, but I write for a living. Please don't ask me about 2nd conditionals, but I'm a safe bet for what reads well in (American) English.

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    emsr2d2 is offline VIP Member
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    Default Re: take the guesswork out of giving

    Quote Originally Posted by masterding View Post
    A passage from VOA news:
    Gift registries save shopping time. They take the guesswork out of giving. But a lot of the affection, too. And they leave the stubborn few who still insist on surprising someone to quiver with doubt: "Will she like this toaster? And will she still like me?"

    My question is :
    what does "take the guesswork out of giving" mean?

    Thanks
    It means that because the people getting married have set up a list in a shop showing all the gifts they would like to receive for their wedding, the guests don't have to guess what to give them. "guesswork" is the process of deciding something without having any useful or relevant facts to help you.
    masterding likes this.

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