Hi,I am a little bit confused with the expression"the world in general" in the following sentence:
"Oh, dear," he said to the world in general, "I'm in trouble again.
Does it mean that he was talking to himself? I would very much appreciate your help.
Confused with the expression "the world in general".
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Re: Confused with the expression "the world in general".
Jamee Zhao wrote:Hi,I am a little bit confused with the expression"the world in general" in the following sentence:
"Oh, dear," he said to the world in general, "I'm in trouble again.
Yes. "in general" literally implies he was talking to the whole world, but since that is impossible, he is talking to himself.
You can also say something like "In general, I like...." which means "I usually like something". Or "In general, the trains run on time" means "Usually the trains run on time". Or "In general, politicians are corrupt"... Etc.
In these cases "in general" refers to the tendency of group as a whole, but not to any specific instance.
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Re: Confused with the expression "the world in general".
"said to the world in general" could be rephrased as "said to no one in particular"
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Re: Confused with the expression "the world in general".
devilyoudont wrote:"said to the world in general" could be rephrased as "said to no one in particular"
This is exactly it.
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Re: Confused with the expression "the world in general".
devilyoudont wrote:"said to the world in general" could be rephrased as "said to no one in particular"
Your answer perfectly solves my problem. Thank you so much!
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Re: Confused with the expression "the world in general".
Yes. "in general" literally implies he was talking to the whole world, but since that is impossible, he is talking to himself.
You can also say something like "In general, I like...." which means "I usually like something". Or "In general, the trains run on time" means "Usually the trains run on time". Or "In general, politicians are corrupt"... Etc.
In these cases "in general" refers to the tendency of group as a whole, but not to any specific instance.[/quote]
Got it. Thank you for the examples.
You can also say something like "In general, I like...." which means "I usually like something". Or "In general, the trains run on time" means "Usually the trains run on time". Or "In general, politicians are corrupt"... Etc.
In these cases "in general" refers to the tendency of group as a whole, but not to any specific instance.[/quote]
Got it. Thank you for the examples.
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