How would you interpret this phrase “pick up on his character” in the fourth sentence? How would you interpret this phrase “pick up on his character” in the fourth sentence? Does the “pick up on” means to understand in the context? Thank you. PS: the excerpt is taken from “Kneller’s Happy Campers” written by an Israeli author, Etgar Keret. And I’m reading an English translation. the context: It’s been almost a month since we got here. Kneller’s starting to get used to the idea that his dog, Freddie, isn’t planning to come back, and it doesn’t look like the tow-truck that Gelfand ordered is ever going to show up either. During the first week, Uzi was still driving everybody crazy and dialing all sorts of numbers to figure out a way of getting back home, but then he met this Eskimo. She was way cute, and was from too far away to pick up on his character. Ever since they’ve been an item he’s less hung up on getting out of here, and even though he still calls his mom and dad every day, now mostly he talks about her.