Expression I don't understand
this is an excerpt from the book I'm reading

Frustration began to eat at me. "Where's the knife?" I grumbled. I almost swore, but I knew that was a sign of a person losing his cool. Yet, what a blunder. I swear I almost started to search for the raft's trademark to see if it was made in Germany or Japan. Some dummkopf had put in pliers when everyone knows that no matter where you are, on land or sea or in the air, you need a knife.
We had no knife, and I couldn't make one appear out of thin, warm salt air.

What does the last sentence mean?

Question

Expression I don't understand
this is an excerpt from the book I'm reading

Frustration began to eat at me. "Where's the knife?" I grumbled. I almost swore, but I knew that was a sign of a person losing his cool. Yet, what a blunder. I swear I almost started to search for the raft's trademark to see if it was made in Germany or Japan. Some dummkopf had put in pliers when everyone knows that no matter where you are, on land or sea or in the air, you need a knife. 
 We had no knife, and I couldn't make one appear out  of thin, warm salt air.

What does the last sentence mean?

Answer

"Out of thin air" is an expression that means 'from nothing/nowhere,' or 'from what one has', so the last sentence is saying that the character couldn't make the knife appear out of the thin, warm, salty air, because thin, warm, salty air does not produce a knife.

Answer

thanks for your help!!

Answer

"To make something appear from thin air" is something you may hear to mean "to make appear from nowhere / nothing". The "thin, warm salt" part is presumably just the author being more creative with the more common expression!

Hope this helps!

Answers · 4

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