sentence meaning

[ivygreen]

Could you teach me this sentence meaning?

"Give the guy the benefit of the doubt. (He might have caught a cold.)"


<situation>: Two people are talking about their co-worker who

absented from the work for a few days without saying anything.

The speakers are guessing the possible bad reasons about him.

Then one of the speakers said the sentence above.

[Naamplao]

Originally Posted by ivygreen

Could you teach me this sentence meaning?

"Give the guy the benefit of the doubt. (He might have caught a cold.)"


<situation>: Two people are talking about their co-worker who
absented from the work for a few days without saying anything.
The speakers are guessing the possible bad reasons about him.
Then one of the speakers said the sentence above.

It means that this speaker is speaking in defense of the co-worker.

No one at this point knows why the co-worker is missing. So the speaker is saying that they should not assume that the co-worker is doing something they should not. It is not fair to do so without evidence. So they should assume that he has a good reason for staying away, until proven otherwise.

[ivygreen]

Dear Naamplao,


Thank you very much for your reply.

I can clearly understand it.