What means "come down to"?

[Joannes Souza]

I saw this phrasal verb in a song (Hand in my pocket by Alanis Morissette), but I don't find this verb here. One another question: in this same song there's this one other phrasal verb "boil down to". It's in the place of the first one.

Thanks a lot!!!!

[paochai01]

Originally Posted by Joannes Souza

I saw this phrasal verb in song (Hand in my pocket by Alanis Morissette), but I don't find this verb here. One another question: in this same song there's this one other prhasal verb "boil down to". It's in the place of the first one.

Thank a lot!!!!

'Come down to something' means 'to be recognized as the most important thing'.
But I'm not sure since I haven't seen the entire context. It could have a different meaning though.
'Boil down to' means 'amount to'.

[mfwills]

[quote=paochai01;308449]'Come down to something' means 'to be recognized as the most important thing'./quote]

I don't know that I agree. It is commonly used to establish any subject upon which you're expressing an opinion, not necessarily a most important thing.

[paochai01]

[QUOTE=mfwills;308866]

Originally Posted by paochai01

'Come down to something' means 'to be recognized as the most important thing'./quote]

I don't know that I agree. It is commonly used to establish any subject upon which you're expressing an opinion, not necessarily a most important thing.

'come down to' could also mean 'to get lower' (price, level, value, etc.) or 'to accept a lower price, value, etc.' or 'to travel south to a place'

[Barb_D]

That's true, but that's not what it means in the song.

"What it all comes down to" = what it means in the final analysis of things.

I can give you statistics for half an hour, and then say "What is all comes down to" or "What is boils down to"... is that we're losing market share with our most profitable products and with our most important clients while our least profitable products are the only ones that are not losing marek share. The situation is bad.

[mfwills]

Originally Posted by Barb_D

That's true, but that's not what it means in the song.

"What it all comes down to" = what it means in the final analysis of things.

I can give you statistics for half an hour, and then say "What is all comes down to" or "What is boils down to"... is that we're losing market share with our most profitable products and with our most important clients while our least profitable products are the only ones that are not losing marek share. The situation is bad.

The insertion of a word can drastically change the meaning of a phrase. "All" was not part of the question, nor was it part of the original answer. In this new usage, yes, it implies the most important thing, but by itself (without "all"), it can represent any comparison.

"Boil down to," on the other hand, does imply the most important thing on its own: boiling is a process of reduction, such as boiling maple sap to make syrup. The sap itself is basically useless: it is the syrup we're after (or even further down, sugar), so we boil the sap to remove the water. The imagery is that of removing the unimportant parts.

I overlooked the connection between "come down to" and "boil down to" in my first comment. Had I looked more closely, I would say that Morrissette was using the two interchangeably.

[Soup]

English idiom
In the end, it all comes down to the fact that you don't really care about me.

Idiom definition
In the end, it all is because of the fact that you don't really care about me.

Answers: Idioms with come / English and grammar
come down to: Information and Much More from Answers.com

__________________________

boils down to
Click Idioms: what-if -- what the Sam Hill

boil down: Information and Much More from Answers.com

[mfwills]

Originally Posted by Soup

English idiom
In the end, it all comes down to the fact that you don't really care about me.

Idiom definition
In the end, it all is because of the fact that you don't really care about me.

Answers: Idioms with come / English and grammar
come down to: Information and Much More from Answers.com

With the "all" in there, yes, I agree. That is what I said. I also pointed out that "all" was neither part of the original question nor part of the original answer. The addition of "all" changes the expression.
__________________________

Originally Posted by Soup

boils down to
Click Idioms: what-if -- what the Sam Hill

boil down: Information and Much More from Answers.com

I agreed with that as well.

[Barb_D]

Steady on, mfw!

The "all" was indeed part of the original question in that the question specifically mentioned the song by Alanis Morissette. Unless you've listened to a different version than I have, it's in there.

My post was made in response to the post prior to mine saying "'come down to' could also mean 'to get lower' (price, level, value, etc.) or 'to accept a lower price, value, etc.' or 'to travel south to a place' "

And while I agreed that that was true, it was not the answer to the original poster's question.

What it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be quite alright
'cause I've got one hand in my pocket
And what it all comes down to
And what it all comes down to...

[mfwills]

It may be in the lyrics, but we're not listening to lyrics, we're responding to text displayed on a screen. Yes, the song is referenced, but having never heard it, all I have to go on is that which is actually visible in the original question and answer, upon which I based my comments.

I would suggest that if someone knows referenced material is other than as quoted, such should be pointed out.

I am indeed steady on that neither the original question nor the original answer as displayed here contain the word "all," and, lacking that, the phrase takes on a different meaning.