Does "well forward" mean 'far forward' in this passage? "They jerked down the straps on my bib overalls, held my arms high, peeled off my ragged shirt. They exposed my filth, my black armpits, my dirt

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Does "well forward" mean 'far forward' in this passage? "They jerked down the straps on my bib overalls, held my arms high, peeled off my ragged shirt. They exposed my filth, my black armpits, my dirty neck, for everyone to see. The faces of those children, the girl well forward among them, filled with horror perverted with glee." Does it mean 'far forward'? If so, which phrase do you prefer to use in conversation?

Jul 13, 2014 12:35 PM

Answers · 5

'Well' means 'considerably'. For example, 'Well over half the children in this school speak two languages' means considerably more than half - maybe 60-70%. 'You need to turn the key well to the left' means 'a long way' to the left, not just a little way. These aren't a formal expressions - they're everyday normal English.

July 13, 2014

In this case, I would say that "well forward" and "far forward" mean the same thing. I'm assuming that the children are all standing in a group. In conversation I use "far forward", it's less formal than "well forward".

July 13, 2014

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