any the wiser? What does this mean?

[Aidensuh]

The conversations which English people hold about the weather, for example, do not 1)as a rule 2)leave the participation any the wiser.

1) I cannot quite understand what exactly "as a rule" means here.
2) Does this mean participating in the conversation about weather doesn't make you a wise person? I want to know the exact meaning of the verb "leave" here.


The anthropologist Malinowski invented the term. He said, 3)"It was actuated by the demon of terminological invention." Although he was half in joke, the name has stuck.


3) Does it mean that he admits the unneccesity of inventing such term? I am not quite sure...

Lastly, is there an app for android mobile phones to this website? If there is one, I want to know where I can find it.
I ended up asking lots of questions. Thank you for reading my long post and I will be eagerly waiting for your answer.
Have a good one.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Hello, Aidensuh:

"As a rule" means "usually."

For example: "I do not go to the movies [the cinema], as a rule. But I really want to see a certain movie, so I have decided to go this one time."

For example: "As a rule, I go to bed by six (I'm an old man), but I have decided to attend the Joneses' party. I will leave by 9 p.m."

For example: "American television programs, as a rule, do not allow 'dirty' words to be heard. But it was decided that the word '____' would be allowed this one time because it was an important part of the drama."

 

[Aidensuh]

Thank you for the answer. I want to know the answers to the rest of the questions as well. Please help me out.

 

[Tarheel]

While any native speaker past a certain age (twelve?) would know the first one, I doubt that you would meet anybody who has even heard of the other two. However, if you google "any the wiser" you will probably get a lot of hits.

 

[SoothingDave]

When you are done with a typical conversation about the weather, you are not any wiser than when you began. You have not learned anything and you have not gained in wisdom. The typical conversation about the weather is something like:

"Sure is cold out there!"
"Yep, but the sun might come out later."

 

[MikeNewYork]

The answer to your your second question is that two people talking about the weather does not educate either of them. "Leave them wiser means "results in wisdom".

 

[Tarheel]

What SoothingDave said is certainly true. However, concerning:

leave the participation any the wiser
​

It is not, I think, anything you are ever likely to hear. However, you might hear something like:

He is not any wiser for the experience.

​

(American, not English.)

 

[Rover_KE]

Welcome to the forum, Aidensuh.:-D

You first two questions have been answered. In future, please ask only one question per thread.

 

[emsr2d2]

It should be "... do not leave the participants any the wiser".