[Vocabulary] pretty so far

[maiabulela]

The family got the girl the christmas tree she wanted. When they walked into the room, she said:

"That's pretty so far"

What's the meaning of "so far" here? coz I think that "pretty" here is like "quiet"

Thanks a lot

 

[2006]

The family got the girl the christmas tree she wanted. When they walked into the room, she said:

"That's pretty so far."

What's the meaning of "so far" here? coz I think that "pretty" here is like "quiet"

Thanks a lot

"coz" is not an English word.
Do you mean "pretty" is like "quiet" or 'quite', or something else?

 

[sarat_106]

The family got the girl the christmas tree she wanted. When they walked into the room, she said:

"That's pretty so far"

What's the meaning of "so far" here? coz I think that "pretty" here is like "quiet"

Thanks a lot

Not exactly. Here ‘pretty’ as adjective describes the instant reaction of the girl at the first sight of the Christmas tree. It is obviously positive. ‘so far’ is an idiom having one meaning; Up to this point or up to now or at that very moment.
So it should mean: The girl expressed her appreciation for the thing as it looked graceful to her at that very moment.

 

[theeexcellence]

The family got the girl the christmas tree she wanted. When they walked into the room, she said:

"That's pretty so far"

What's the meaning of "so far" here? coz I think that "pretty" here is like "quiet"

Thanks a lot

Not exactly. Here ‘pretty’ as adjective describes the instant reaction of the girl at the first sight of the Christmas tree. It is obviously positive. ‘so far’ is an idiom having one meaning; Up to this point or up to now or at that very moment.
So it should mean: The girl expressed her appreciation for the thing as it looked graceful to her at that very moment.

This could be one explanation but I am afraid I do not think this is a good one. I shall give my humble opinion. The next posters can judge it but I believe it is right one.

According to one of the usage of "so far" or "yet", (and this particular usage took my fancy) they are used after a superlative.

Examples: best car so far, greatest example so far etc.

It did not give any other explanation or meaning. So there is no meaning of "so far" here. As there are several other phrases in English which are not used for their meaning but stress.

So it has only been used for stress.

The girl being small (as appears from usage of "so far" in the sentence in example) used it after "pretty" and not "prettiest" or "best".

And yes I agree (as is evident from my explanation) that "pretty" is an adjective and not an adverb.

NOT A TEACHER

 

[emsr2d2]

The family got the girl the christmas tree she wanted. When they walked into the room, she said:

"That's pretty so far"

What's the meaning of "so far" here? coz I think that "pretty" here is like "quiet"

Thanks a lot

It's a slightly odd sentence, but as far as I can tell it means that she thinks that the tree looks pretty (nice/beautiful) at the time she is looking at it. I imagine that the tree has only been partly decorated and she expects it to be decorated more. "So far" (up until now) it looks pretty. It could, of course, become more or less pretty depending on what happens to it from now on!

 

[maiabulela]

No, it's not decorated at all. It was a natural tree, they have just cut it from the wood.

Can "so far" here means "huge"?... I thought of that because we sometimes say "don't go that far" for example. so it carries here the meaning of "exaggeration"

Please, I'll be waiting for your reply

Thanks

 

[emsr2d2]

No, it's not decorated at all. It was a natural tree, they have just cut it from the wood.

Can "so far" here means "huge"?... I thought of that because we sometimes say "don't go that far" for example. so it carries here the meaning of "exaggeration"

Please, I'll be waiting for your reply

Thanks

No. So far can only be used to describe distance or time.

1) London is 50km away. I decided not to go because I didn't want to travel so far. (Distance)

2) I need to buy 20 chocolate bars. I only have 10 so far. (Time)

When people say "that far/too far" in the context of an action, they are referring to the extent of the action. For example:

You only needed to hit him once. You hit him 25 times! You went too far!

 

[maiabulela]

So what is the meaning then.
Then cut the tree, went back to home with the tree. The girl said "That's pretty so far"

IT is not decorated or anything.

the meaning "uptill now" doesn't suit the context at all.

I don't know whay she said that!!!

 

[emsr2d2]

So what is the meaning then.
Then cut the tree, went back to home with the tree. The girl said "That's pretty so far"

IT is not decorated or anything.

the meaning "uptill now" doesn't suit the context at all.

I don't know whay she said that!!!

I'm equally confused now. So she walked into a room, saw a completely bare Christmas tree, and decided to say that she thought it was "pretty so far". That seems to be a completely inappropriate thing to say!

 

[BobK]

I agree it sounds pretty (!) odd. It suggests either that the girl prefers natural Christmas trees without ornamentation, or that she knows that she will dislike her parents' choice of decorations, or that she likes the natural look of imperfect symmetry which her father - it's usually him;-) - is bound to screw up by cutting bits off! ('So far' certainly doesn't mean 'huge' - unless that's a bit of teenage slang that's passed me by.)

b

 

[maiabulela]

She asked her fiancee, his father and brother to get her a "real" chricstmas tree. They did and once they walked with the tree into the room, she said "that's pretty so far"!!

that was the context.

How can we know that itis not a teenage slang that's passed you by?

even try to give me any clue or way to search.

Thanks

 

[Barb_D]

There's no way to know. Is English her native language?

Maybe she's just hinting that it will be prettier when the decorations are on it.

 

[maiabulela]

yes. So u mean she means that it's pretty even with no decoration yet!!

Thanks

 

[theeexcellence]

There's no way to know. Is English her native language?

Maybe she's just hinting that it will be prettier when the decorations are on it.

Yes that it could be. I also agree to this meaning but with that I stick to my own explanation of it too (On page 1).

I think a really good LEARNED native English speaker can clear the situation. Only if we could get a professor of English to give his opinion, I think it could prove useful.

There are some really quaint phrases or their use that escapes the attention of normal speakers in every language. Here we need some linguaphile or pedantic (hope these words do not prove irritating to anybody) who has his eye on smallest usage in English.

NOT A TEACHER

 

[BobK]

There's no way to know. Is English her native language?

Maybe she's just hinting that it will be prettier when the decorations are on it.

Sounds right to me. (I've gone off my earlier suggestions ;-)) - so she's saying 'It's pretty, but there's lot's more to do before it looks really good.'

b