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what's the point of the phrase?



 
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ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
Being a military general paid fairly well, but if | Conditionals - 'If I were...'
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what's the point of the phrase? #1 (permalink) Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:11 am   what's the point of the phrase?
 

Hi everyone.
In the book I'm reading I met a sentence which is somewhat unclear to me. Could someone, please, to clarify its meaning to me?

...and so wooden luxry items were no longer made new. Existing ones had become increasingly rare and therefore quite valuable. There were times when Harkin wondered how his ancestors could have wasted so much plant life - but then, who could have predicted Tiberium? Besides, he was one to talk, with his prized oak desk, which he'd sworn on more than one occasion would never leave his side until he died.

As far as I understand the last sentence says that he will be near his desk until he dies. But what does the phrase "he was one to talk, with his prized oak desk" mean? I know that 'prized' means very valuable, but does the phrase really mean that he talked to his desk?
Klpno
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what's the point of the phrase? #2 (permalink) Sat Sep 01, 2007 14:43 pm   what's the point of the phrase?
 

Hi,

'You're one to talk' is an expression used when you want to criticize someone for doing something which they criticize other people for doing. Let me give an example:

Someone says that driving too fast in a car is dangerous and yet they always drive fast themselves. If you heard this person saying this, you could say: Well, you're one to talk- you have been stopped several times by the police for driving too fast!

Alan
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what's the point of the phrase? #3 (permalink) Sat Sep 01, 2007 14:53 pm   what's the point of the phrase?
 

Thank you very much, Alan!!! I think I understand the meaning now. It seems to me that this expression is similar to 'look who's talking'.
Klpno
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what's the point of the phrase? #4 (permalink) Sat Sep 01, 2007 15:07 pm   what's the point of the phrase?
 

Exactly!

Alan
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what's the point of the phrase? #5 (permalink) Sat Sep 01, 2007 15:28 pm   what's the point of the phrase?
 

Thank you very much again, Alan.
Klpno
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Joined: 17 Jun 2007
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