loose focus

Status
Not open for further replies.

Isotope

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
German
Home Country
Germany
Current Location
Germany
Hi there!

Does anybody know the meaning of focus in the following sentence:

"He often lost focus during interviews. He hated doing them."

Does it mean something like: He lost attention/interest?

Thanks so much for your help.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
Hi there!

Does anybody know the meaning of focus in the following sentence:

"He often lost focus during interviews. He hated doing them."

Does it mean something like: He lost attention/interest?

Thanks so much for your help.

His attention wavered, yes.
He lost interest, no.

He was probably still interested in the job but for some reason during the interview he just found that he was having trouble concentrating on what he was meant to be doing (answering the questions intelligently and eloquently). He might have been distracted by other thoughts going through his mind. Perhaps he starts answering a question perfectly well but during the course of his answer he drifted off the topic instead of focusing on what he had actually been asked.
 

Raymott

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Australia
Current Location
Australia
Hi there!

Does anybody know the meaning of focus in the following sentence:

"He often lost focus during interviews. He hated doing them."

Does it mean something like: He lost attention/interest?

Thanks so much for your help.
The verb you want is "lose", despite what you might read on the web. "Loose" is an entirely different word.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
Thanks Raymott. I just popped back to this thread and realised that I'd failed to mention the use of "loose" instead of "lose" in my original response.

It's such a common error and I can completely understand why so many people get the two confused.
 

Isotope

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
German
Home Country
Germany
Current Location
Germany
Thanks for the answer! (and sorry for the typo...)
 

BobK

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Location
Spencers Wood, near Reading, UK
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I ncidentally I think 'loose focus' does have a meaning for photographers. It would be the opposite of 'tight focus' - which I know exists. (I thought I'd strayed into the wrong forum! ;-))

b]
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I ncidentally I think 'loose focus' does have a meaning for photographers. It would be the opposite of 'tight focus' - which I know exists. (I thought I'd strayed into the wrong forum! ;-))

b]

My flatmate is a photographer and says that's not the case. "Tight focus" is a phrase for an extremely close up shot (so for a portrait you would get really tight in to just the face and it would fill the frame) but "loose focus" doesn't mean anything to him.
 

BobK

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Location
Spencers Wood, near Reading, UK
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
My flatmate is a photographer and says that's not the case. "Tight focus" is a phrase for an extremely close up shot (so for a portrait you would get really tight in to just the face and it would fill the frame) but "loose focus" doesn't mean anything to him.

I stand corrected.

b
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
A lot of us have been standing corrected today. Our legs must be very tired. Shall we set up a naughty corner?!
 

Hedwig

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2011
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Spanish
Home Country
Argentina
Current Location
Argentina
A lot of us have been standing corrected today. Our legs must be very tired. Shall we set up a naughty corner?!

Yes, let's! :lol:
 

BobK

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Location
Spencers Wood, near Reading, UK
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
A lot of us have been standing corre today. Our legs must be very tired. Shall we set up a naughty corner?!
With a chair. I should - having broken my ankle last week :-( - have said 'I hop corrected.'

b
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top