Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[existenz]

Back on the table is human exploration of the moon; back on the table is human exploration of Mars. Swept to the floor - ot at least to the side - is the overbudget, underproducing International Space Station and the increasingly creaky, increasingly lethal shuttle fleet.
Maybe. It's just possible, however, that there's a lot less to the Bush plan than meets the eye - or matches the hype.


Can anybody please explain to me the meaning of the underlined phrases or words above ?

thanks in advance

[bud]

Hi Existemz,

Swept to the side - An issue is swept to the side when it is considered unimportant and not worth the effort needed to address it.

Swept to the floor - This is almost the same, although the issue is considered even more unimportant.

Creaky - This describes something that is very old and no longer in good physical condition.

Meets the eye - This is always used with "more than" or "less than." Usually it is "more than meets the eye," but in this case the author chose the opposite to help emphasize his/her point. When we say "than meets the eye" we mean "than is readily apparent without deeper analysis."

Matches the hype - "Hype" means marketing or publicity. Often (at least in the US), events (or things or individuals) are "hyped" to increase public interest. Often, the "event" does not match the hype. In other words, the "event" was/is not as interesting as the hype led us to expect.

Hope that helps, Existenz. Sometimes it is difficult to describe idioms clearly. Please ask follow-up questions if you are still unclear.

[existenz]

I always find Dave's ESL Cafe my primary guide in my course of learning English.
Thank you very much bud for these efforts
I wish you all the best.


.:: eXistenZ ::.

[bud]

Thank you!

[existenz]

Usually, idioms which do not have counterpart in my mother tongue language, are difficult for me to understand :/