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florence
what does "to" mean here?
He beat me to the punch and did it himself.
I know the meaning of this idiom'beat sb to the punch', but I can not figure out what the ' to ' here means.it appear to have nothing to do with "before".As a preposition in 'beat someone to the punch', what does 'to' mean here?
2012年2月17日 22:43
解答 · 6
2
'beat somebody to the punch'
To do something before someone else can do it "I wanted to give my mother a camera, but my brother beat me to the punch."
Etymology: from boxing, in which good fighters are quick to react by punching (hitting) the other fighter before they are hit.
In this case I think 'he' meant that the other hit him before 'he' ~
source: http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/beat+to+the+punch
2012年2月17日
1
florence,
"To" can indicate movement towards a place. He beat me to the car. = He arrived first at he car.
the punch = the action of punching
"To" can also indicate movement toward the accomplishment of an intention, or a result
He beat me to the punch.= He beat me to the action of punching. He punched first.
We were both trying to punch and he accomplished it first.
They came to my aid. = They came with the intention of aiding me.
2012年2月19日
The to is a word implying distance. Beat implies time. Put them together and he finessed getting (to) something done before (beat) she could.
2012年2月18日
I don't really understand what you're trying to ask.
2012年2月17日
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