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Thu 22 Jun, 2006 02:01 am
What does "little white lies "and "by and large "mean in the sentence "We already have entered golden age of little white lies about our cellphones,and this is by and large a healthly,protective development"?
I am expecting your answer !
Thank you !
Re: I'll need your help!
First, i will correct the sentence, which has some small errors:
"We already have entered a golden age of little white lies about our cellphones, and this is by and large a healthly, protective development."
(When writing in English, and quoting a sentence, one places the quotation marks outside the sentence. Also, punctuation marks such as commas and periods come immediately after the word, with a space after the punctuation mark. For some reason, and i don't know why, Chinese students who come seem to always place the commas in the sentences with a space after the word, and no space before the next word--that is backwards.)
Little white lies means lies which are essentially harmless. The locution "by and large" means mostly, if not completely. So, to re-write the sentence:
"We already have entered a golden age when small, unimportant lies are told about our cellphones, and this is mostly a healthly, protective development."
By the way, people have to pay for their cellphones. I don't consider being lied to about the things one pays for to be unimportant.