Search from various English teachers...
Brazil flagGabriel
Help. Please Hi, there Could you help me? 1) In a game, I read: "Norte dame was one of the first buildings to employ flying buttresses, which allowed for much thinner walls around the choir. Personally, the last thing I'd want near a choir is a thinner wall. Lock them in, soundproof the bugger." What does it mean? "lock them in sound proof the bugger"? 2) What does "you can charitably describe it as bad" mean?

Corrections · 6

0
Well I'm going to try to answer your questions. It seems that to your first question 1) "lock them in, sound proof the bugger" is referring to stabilizing the building structure. "...sound proof the bugger" is referring to making the walls thicker, stronger and able to dampen the vibrations of the choir singing. Think of an opera singer voice breaking a glass. If the glass was wrapped in cloth or bubble wrap it is less likely to break. It fills in the space to prevent the items from moving around. "bugger" is just referring to the building itself. It's a slang term. To your second question 2) " you can charitably describe it as bad" is kinda like trying to be polite about something that is bad. The word bad is being used to devalue the quality of the situation. It's like comparing dropping a few cookies on the floor (bad) versus dropping a whole bag of cookies on the floor (really bad/awful). Then saying "dropping the whole bag of cookies on the floor was bad." It's a nice way to describe a really bad/awful situation.
0

Help. Please

Hi, there

Could you help me?

1) In a game, I read: "Norte dame was one of the first buildings to employ flying buttresses, which allowed for much thinner walls around the choir. Personally, the last thing I'd want near a choir is a thinner wall. Lock them in, soundproof the bugger." What does it mean? "lock them in sound proof the bugger"?

2) What does "you can charitably describe it as bad" mean?

1) In American English, we sometimes use the word "bugger" to refer to the thing we are talking about.  So in this case, the word "bugger" is being used as a substitute for the word "building" or, more precisely, for the room used by the choir.  In other words, he's saying "sound proof the building" or "soundproof the room used by the choir."

2) Generally, when someone says, "You can charitably describe it as bad..." they are saying that even when they (i.e. the speaker) try their best to be kind or generous or positive in what they say about the topic, it is still almost impossible to find anything good to say."  In other words, "the best thing they can say about the subject is that it is bad.  It may not be evil.  It may not be horrible.  It may not be disastrous.  But it is still not good.  it is bad.

Hope that helps!


0

Help Please

Hi there.


Could you help me?

1) In a game, I read: "Notre Dame was one of the first buildings to employ flying buttresses, which allowed for much thinner walls around the choir. Personally, the last thing I'd want near a choir is a thinner wall. Lock them in, soundproof the bugger." What does this mean? "lock them in sound proof the bugger"?

2) What does "you can charitably describe it as bad" mean?


The writer is stating a dislike for choir music, or at least a specific choir that may have been referenced in another sentence. He or she is suggesting that the choir should be forced to use a soundproofed room, so that no sound could escape the room. Nobody outside of that room would be able to hear the singing. The term "the bugger" is just a slang way of referencing the choir. It is usually used in a derogatory manner.


The second example simply means that even if someone is trying to be kind, he or she would still have to call the choir bad. Apparently they do not sing well and the choir sounds terrible.



0
1) In a game, I read: "Norte dame was one of the first buildings to employ flying buttresses, which allowed for much thinner walls around the choir. Personally, the last thing I'd want near a choir is a thinner wall. Lock them in, soundproof the bugger." What does it mean? "lock them in sound proof the bugger"?

-It means the person saying that disagrees with the use of flying buttresses, he/she prefers a thicker wall that would prevent sound from escaping the building.


2) What does "you can charitably describe it as bad" mean?

- I think it means the thing he/she is describing is hugely bad so describing it as just "bad" is leinient , maybe extending the context would be useful for a proper assessment.
0

These are some fun expressions. Here are my best explanations.

1) "Lock them in, soundproof the bugger" in this context means lock in the sound with thicker walls, make it soundproof so that no one else can hear the choir. The "bugger" is just a vague noun used to refer to a thing or idea (in this case, the thing is the choir). Another example of "bugger" could be, "I lost the remote control for the TV in the couch and couldn't find the bugger." Here the bugger is the remote control. It really doesn't have a meaning outside of this as far as I know... I guess some people also use it as a curse word, like if something bad happens they'll say, "Oh bugger!" which means, "Oh shoot! / Oh dang! / Oh crap / etc etc."

2) "You can charitably describe it as bad" means you can describe it as bad if you're being generous, meaning that it's much WORSE than bad. Saying it's bad would be generous, it would be a charitable thing to say. So really it means that it's really really bad. Does that make sense?

Let me know if you have any other questions about it or if something was unclear!

Want to progress faster?

Join this learning community and try out free exercises!

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!

Start Learning Today