out of question
Hongyi Zhao
Could someone please give me some hints on the meaning of *out of
question* used in the following sentence:
-----------
this I cannot tell you, I need to read carefully the paper and this is
now out of question, sorry
----------------
Regards.
--
.: Hongyi Zhao [ hongyi.zhao AT gmail.com ] Free as in Freedom :.
Cheryl
> Hi all,
>
> Could someone please give me some hints on the meaning of *out of
> question* used in the following sentence:
>
> -----------
> this I cannot tell you, I need to read carefully the paper and this is
> now out of question, sorry
> ----------------
>
> Regards.
The passage is unclear. At first glance, 'this is now out of the
question' seems to refer to 'carefully read the paper' or 'read the
paper carefully' (not 'read carefully the paper'). In that case, it
means that for some reason, which isn't given, it is now impossible for
the speaker to read the paper carefully.
But it is also impossible for the speaker to tell the listener something
('this I cannot tell you'), so it is possible that it is this telling
which is now 'out of the question'; impossible. I think this meaning is
less likely because the position of 'out of the question' makes it more
likely that it is referring to reading the paper.
--
Cheryl
Peter Moylan
> Hi all,
>
> Could someone please give me some hints on the meaning of *out of
> question* used in the following sentence:
>
> -----------
> this I cannot tell you, I need to read carefully the paper and this is
> now out of question, sorry
> ----------------
You left out "the". "This is out of the question" means "this is now
impossible". (But without the "the", it doesn't mean anything at all.)
Usually it doesn't mean physically impossible. Perhaps a better
equivalent is "I refuse to do what you are asking".
I presume that the meaning of "this" is made clear from the context.
--
Peter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.
tony cooper
<hszh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>Could someone please give me some hints on the meaning of *out of
>question* used in the following sentence:
>
>-----------
>this I cannot tell you, I need to read carefully the paper and this is
>now out of question, sorry
>----------------
>
This must be a translation - and a bad one - and not a sentence
originally written by a native speaker of English.
The original must have been: I need to carefully read the paper and
this is now out of question, sorry.
"Out of the question" means "it is not possible".
For some reason, the speaker is now unable to carefully read the
paper.
In other context, "out of the question" can mean "I will not do it".
Replying to a request to apologize for something, a person might say
"That is out of the question". In this case, it is possible but the
person will not do it.
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
Stan Brown
> Could someone please give me some hints on the meaning of *out of
> question* used in the following sentence:
>
> -----------
> this I cannot tell you, I need to read carefully the paper and this is
> now out of question, sorry
> ----------------
It's "out of THE question", not "out of question". When you say
something is out of the question, you mean there is no chance you
will do it. Your correspondent is saying that he or she absolutely
will not read the paper at this time.
--
"The difference between the /almost right/ word and the /right/ word
is ... the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning."
--Mark Twain
Stan Brown, Tompkins County, NY, USA http://OakRoadSystems.com
CDB
> Hongyi Zhao wrote:
>
>> Could someone please give me some hints on the meaning of *out of
>> question* used in the following sentence:
>>
>> -----------
>> this I cannot tell you, I need to read carefully the paper and
>> this is now out of question, sorry
>> ----------------
>
> It's "out of THE question", not "out of question". When you say
> something is out of the question, you mean there is no chance you
> will do it. Your correspondent is saying that he or she absolutely
> will not read the paper at this time.
>>
>>
The correspondent appears not to be a native English-speaker. Not
only is "the" required before "question", but the use of an adverb
between the verb-form "read" and its direct object is unidiomatic in
English (although common in French).
>>
I think the adverb "now" may be another item in evidence: as the
writer uses it, it implies that something has changed to make reading
the paper impossible, but I suspect he simply means that it is
impossible "right now".
Mike Lyle
wrote:
Yes. And it may be helpful to explain that in this phrase, "question"
doesn't have its most common meaning, but (as CDB shows above in "It
can't be considered") in a few special uses it means the "subject for
discussion". In a committee meeting, for example, it may after
discussion be decided to "put the question": that is, to ask the
members to vote on the matter.
--
Mike.