qustion-what do these sentences mean?

·This is a question of last importance.
·He bought a tape-recorder for a song.
·Baseball is big in America.
·He cut his father dead in the street.
·His father told him off for his carelessness in his work

Do these sentences mean:
This is a very important question.
He bought a tape-recorder only recorded one song.
Baseball is popular in America.
He pretend don't see his father in the street.
His father blamed he for his carelessness in his work.

[RonBee]

Originally Posted by o_cat

·This is a question of last importance.
·He bought a tape-recorder for a song.
·Baseball is big in America.
·He cut his father dead in the street.
·His father told him off for his carelessness in his work

Do these sentences mean:
This is a very important question.
He bought a tape-recorder only recorded one song.
Baseball is popular in America.
He pretend don't see his father in the street.
His father blamed he for his carelessness in his work.

"This is a question of last importance" is an expression I have never heard. "This is a question of the greatest importance" or "This is a question of the highest importance" are both more likely. Possibly, it is used as a synonym for those other expressions.

He bought a tape recorder for a song = He didn't pay much for it. He bought it cheaply.

You got the "baseball" question just right. :D

Your impression of "He cut his father dead in the street" could be the correct one, but my impression was that violence was involved. More context would, no doubt, be helpful.

His father told him off = His father scolded him. He criticized him in a stern manner.

:)

Your impression of "He cut his father dead in the street" could be the correct one, but my impression was that violence was involved. More context would, no doubt, be helpful.

But I saw the question only in a sentence, so there's no context. :P

And thank you, Ron.

[Tdol]

To cut someone dead is to ignore them delibartely IMO, unless he was carrying a samurai sword. Even then, I would probably phrase it differently.

Tdol, I cannot catch on your meaning very well.
What does the phrase delibaretely IMO mean?
Thank you!

[Tdol]

It should have read 'deliberately'. ;-(( IMO = In My Opinion.

Originally Posted by tdol

It should have read 'deliberately'. ;-(( IMO = In My Opinion.

:D That meaning has beat all. :) :wink:

[RonBee]

Originally Posted by o_cat

But I saw the question only in a sentence, so there's no context. :P

Context is what gives meaning to either a word or a sentence. That is why it is so important. The context for a word is the other words in the sentence in which it appears. The context for a sentence is the sentences that appear before and after it. If I know the context for word or phrase I can often figure out its meaning even if I am unfamiar with it.

:)

[RonBee]

Originally Posted by o_cat

:D That meaning has beat all. :) :wink:

There is also IMHO (in my humble opinion) and IMNSHO (in my not so humble opinion).

:wink: