Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
at the edge
English answer:
edge, on edge, edgy or edgey used ironically
Added to glossary by
Stephanie Ezrol
Aug 26, 2010 09:24
13 yrs ago
English term
sentence understand
English
Art/Literary
Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting
literature
The sentence like this:" Maybe not, she thought. That's not what she'd heard in his voice. There was something at the edge, unconnected to income levels or verb tenses or what his parents watch on TV."
I don't know how to understand the sentence. I'd like someone to help me. Thank you.
I don't know how to understand the sentence. I'd like someone to help me. Thank you.
Change log
Aug 31, 2010 11:47: Stephanie Ezrol Created KOG entry
Responses
1 hr
Stephanie Ezrol
United States
United States
Native in English
&
English
Specializes in field
United States
French to English, English to English
Native in: English
Works in: English, French to English, French Middle (ca.1400-1600) to English
Related KudoZ points
:
27
Selected
sentence rewritten
"Maybe not" (her guess about ) (his family's )income levels or (how he used ) verb tenses or what his parents watch on TV." (was what she was hearing in his voice, that grabbed her attention), she thought. That's not what (grabbed her attention) in his voice. There was something at the edge (of his voice and the way he communicated), unconnected to (her guess about his socio economic background, or his realtionship to his parents that was a strong character to his voice, his choice of words and to the way he used language)
Some of what is implied is made more clear in the following sentences in the book which I looked at. But also take into account that when the auther uses the term "something at the edge," I think the native English speaker will be hit with an irony of more than one meaning of the word edge. One meaing, edge, meaning border, but also "on edge"-nervouse or anxious and also an implied edgey or edgy.
Here's edgey from the urban dictionary:
edgey
To be "edgey" about something, i.e. To be aware of it. ii. "Edgey" i.e. Watch out, something is about to happen. iii. To keep an "edgey" is to keep a lookout.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=edgey
Here's edgy from Merriam-Webster dictionary:
Definition of EDGY
1: having an edge : sharp
2a : being on edge : tense, irritable b : characterized by tension <edgy negotiations>
3: having a bold, provocative, or unconventional quality <an edgy film>
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/edgy
Some of what is implied is made more clear in the following sentences in the book which I looked at. But also take into account that when the auther uses the term "something at the edge," I think the native English speaker will be hit with an irony of more than one meaning of the word edge. One meaing, edge, meaning border, but also "on edge"-nervouse or anxious and also an implied edgey or edgy.
Here's edgey from the urban dictionary:
edgey
To be "edgey" about something, i.e. To be aware of it. ii. "Edgey" i.e. Watch out, something is about to happen. iii. To keep an "edgey" is to keep a lookout.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=edgey
Here's edgy from Merriam-Webster dictionary:
Definition of EDGY
1: having an edge : sharp
2a : being on edge : tense, irritable b : characterized by tension <edgy negotiations>
3: having a bold, provocative, or unconventional quality <an edgy film>
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/edgy
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you for help!"
38 mins
David Hollywood
Native in English
&
English
worked for int. orgs (IMF, OAS, IDB)
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, German to English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
an interpretation
:" Maybe not, she thought. That's not what she'd heard in his voice. There was something at the edge, unconnected to income levels or verb tenses or what his parents watch on TV."
I'm going to give you an interpretation of this:
"May or may not be the case/appropriate", she thought (to herself). That's not the message that came across/how she interpreted what he was saying. There was something more being implied tangentially/beside what he apparently was saying directly but seemingly with less importance (although the truth is that it's probably very important) and had a much deeper significance than the three examples that follow which all boil down to referring to much more mundane/everyday matters (i.e. what we earn, how we see ourselves in time and express it with the tense we choose and what other people close to us do)
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Note added at 1 hr (2010-08-26 10:25:28 GMT)
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I'm interpreting "verb tenses" as "how we see ourselves in time and express it with the tense we choose" but have to add that this is not such an everday matter (actually quite important in terms of how we relate to time).
I'm going to give you an interpretation of this:
"May or may not be the case/appropriate", she thought (to herself). That's not the message that came across/how she interpreted what he was saying. There was something more being implied tangentially/beside what he apparently was saying directly but seemingly with less importance (although the truth is that it's probably very important) and had a much deeper significance than the three examples that follow which all boil down to referring to much more mundane/everyday matters (i.e. what we earn, how we see ourselves in time and express it with the tense we choose and what other people close to us do)
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Note added at 1 hr (2010-08-26 10:25:28 GMT)
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I'm interpreting "verb tenses" as "how we see ourselves in time and express it with the tense we choose" but have to add that this is not such an everday matter (actually quite important in terms of how we relate to time).
3 days 16 hrs
Alexandra Taggart
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Native in English
&
English
Works in field
Russian Federation
proficient translation
Native in: English 
, Russian
Works in: Russian to English, English to Russian, English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Maybe, he's hiding something from me,
his mind is somewhere else, she thought.The intonations of his voice tell me different, than the words he pronounces.There was something bad just about to happen, it has nothing to do with current financial situation, it's not the present time he is thinking about ( he uses wrong verb tenses), not about daily pastime of his parents."
Reference comments
7 mins
Reference:
There was something at the edge = there was something else, there was another reason...
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