At a loose end

[Kerim]

Hi,
What does it mean? Here is the example...

"She were at a loose end look me up"

Thanks for now...

[Casiopea]

At a loose end is an idiom. Click here

*"She were at a loose end look me up." <ungrammatical>

[Kerim]

Originally Posted by Casiopea

At a loose end is an idiom. Click here
*"She were at a loose end look me up." <ungrammatical>

Oh, sorry... Not "were". Of course "was".

"She was at a loose end look me up."

[Kerim]

I looked your link. Also I had looked the dictionary.com before. But I didn't understand exactly as usual. Maybe you can explain a little more, can't you?

[Kerim]

[Casiopea]

"at a loose end" means free, not busy, and don't know what to do with that free time.

Imagine that one of your shoelaces is untied, loose, just flopping around freely on the ground. It's not tied or fixed in place; it has nothing to do, no place to be. It's at a loose end.

Grammar Help
She was at a loose end *look me up. <ungrammatical>
She was at a loose end and looked me up. <grammatical>

[Kerim]

Ungrammatical??? Now I'm confused. Here are the original sentence:

"But if you're at a loose end look me up. I'm sure we could find something diverting for you."

[Casiopea]

The following original sentence is grammatical,

"But if you're at a loose end look me up. I'm sure we could find something diverting for you."

However, the sentence below is ungrammatical,

*"She was at a loose end look me up."

The problem, "She was at a loose end" is a sentence and "look me up", an imperative, (You) look me up, is a sentence also.

[Kerim]

The last question:

"But if you're..." = if you are or if you were???

[Casiopea]

If you are (factually speaking)
If you were (hypothetically speaking)