|
|
 #2 (permalink) Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:21 am "no little surprise" would mean no surprise or great surprise? |
|
|
| A. We were not surprised when she married. |
|
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
|
|
| #3 (permalink) Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:39 am "no little surprise" would mean no surprise or great surprise? |
|
|
I don't think so.
No little means "considerable", as in he ate his breakfast with no little appetite = he gobbled it up.
I think it's D : we were greatdy surprised. |
|
Lost_Soul
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 15 Sep 2006
Posts: 1861
Location: South Park, Colorado, USA
|
 |
| #4 (permalink) Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:58 am "no little surprise" would mean no surprise or great surprise? |
|
|
Hi,
I agree that (D) is the best answer. It's an example of understatement similar to: It was no easy task = It was a difficult task.
Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Word Story: Weather |
|
Alan
Co-founder
Joined: 27 Sep 2003
Posts: 9114
Location: UK
|
|
| #5 (permalink) Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:00 am "no little surprise" would mean no surprise or great surprise? |
|
|
| Alan wrote: | Hi,
I agree that (D) is the best answer. It's an example of understatement similar to: It was no easy task = It was a difficult task.
Alan |
What does "it came as no surprise" mean? |
|
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
|
|
| #6 (permalink) Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:04 am "no little surprise" would mean no surprise or great surprise? |
|
|
Hi,
| Quote: | | What does "it came as no surprise" mean? |
It means exactly what it says: It was not surprising.
In the test sentence above it is the use of 'no little' that is the understatement.
Alan
_________________
English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Indirect Speech |
|
Alan
Co-founder
Joined: 27 Sep 2003
Posts: 9114
Location: UK
|
|
| #7 (permalink) Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:06 am "no little surprise" would mean no surprise or great surprise? |
|
|
| Alan wrote: | Hi,
In the test sentence above it is the use of 'no little' that is the understatement.
Alan |
So we could say it means, The news of her marriage caused us a big surprise, could we? |
|
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
|
|
| #8 (permalink) Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:29 am "no little surprise" would mean no surprise or great surprise? |
|
|
No, I can only repeat:
| Quote: | | It means exactly what it says: It was not surprising. |
Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story A funny thing happened... |
|
Alan
Co-founder
Joined: 27 Sep 2003
Posts: 9114
Location: UK
|
|
|
 Pamela
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 14 Mar 2006
Posts: 1239
Location: Rf
|
|
| #10 (permalink) Mon Jun 30, 2008 14:07 pm "no little surprise" would mean no surprise or great surprise? |
|
|
| Alan wrote: | No, I can only repeat:
| Quote: | | It means exactly what it says: It was not surprising. |
Alan |
Why the use of "no little" if it wasn't a big surprise?
Is this not referring to a lot of effort?
We did the job with no little effort. |
|
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
|
|
| #11 (permalink) Mon Jun 30, 2008 14:11 pm "no little surprise" would mean no surprise or great surprise? |
|
|
The thread seems to be drifting between "It came as no surprise" and "It came as no little surprise."
The first means it was not surprising.
The second means it was a big surprise. |
|
Barb_D
I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 13 Jun 2008
Posts: 474
|
|
| #12 (permalink) Mon Jun 30, 2008 14:22 pm "no little surprise" would mean no surprise or great surprise? |
|
|
| Barb_D wrote: | The thread seems to be drifting between "It came as no surprise" and "It came as no little surprise."
The first means it was not surprising.
The second means it was a big surprise. |
Yes, I thought so.
With no little effort we reached the summit by nightfall.
That means it was a big/considerable effort to reach the summit by nightfall, IMO. |
|
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
|
|
| #13 (permalink) Mon Jun 30, 2008 16:10 pm "no little surprise" would mean no surprise or great surprise? |
|
|
| Yes, thank you all. So the correct answer is D |
|
Linh Bui Hoang
You can meet me at english-test.net
Joined: 07 Jan 2008
Posts: 83
|
|
|
| "don't seem to" vs "seem not to" | "might as well as" vs "might as well ... as" |
