Alexios
What does "anything to go by" mean here? And if their success so far is anything to go by, we know the BFR will be very exciting. THANKS!
22 de mai de 2021 07:10
Respostas · 2
In this case “If […] is anything to go by” is an idiomatic phrase, meaning something is taken as an example (or proof). A: I don’t want to invite John to the party. B: Why not? A: Well, if past experience is anything to go by, he’ll just sulk around and ruin the vibe again.  Your sentence means “Judging from their previous success, this means that BFR will be exciting (something to look forward to).”
22 de maio de 2021
Hi, here's an answer to your question from the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1535_questionanswer/page47.shtml#:~:text=Sarah%20Bradshaw%20answers%3A,experience%20of%20the%20person%20speaking' Just in case the link doesn't work, here is the text: arah Bradshaw answers: Well Amir, 'is anything to go by' means 'in our experience' or 'in the experience of the person writing' or 'in the experience of the person speaking'. Another example of 'is anything to go by' could be: you're standing on a station platform, you're looking at your watch, the train is late, you go up to a guard and say: 'When is the next train to London?' And the guard might say, 'Well, if previous trains are anything to go by, it will be half an hour late', meaning that his previous experience of the trains running late is about thirty minutes. Another example would be if, perhaps, we invited a well-known pop star onto our programme, Britney Spears, for example and we said, 'If we had Britney Spears on the programme, do you think we would get lots more listeners' letters asking us questions?' And our producer might say, 'Well, if last week's programme with Phil Collins is anything to go by, yes we would.' So in his experience in something similar is anything to go by. So it begins with if: 'if x is anything to go by then... something else.' So remember how to construct that: it's 'if' and 'is anything to go by', 'then', and then the concluding sentence.
22 de maio de 2021
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