Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[cinqjoy]

Dear teacher:

I am confused about the sentence "You can't be too careful in your work."
Somebody says it means "You must be careful in your work",
but the meaning I though is opposite.
Could you please tell me the correct answer?

Thank you a lot!

Sincerely,
Joy

[lotus]

Hi cingjoy,

"You can't be too careful in your work."

Sometimes being "too careful" means that you read too much into something, or try too hard to be careful -- and yet, you fail. Think of playing "Jenga." If you think too much and move too carefully, you can still cause the tiles to fall.

Thinking too carefully can sometimes be a detriment. But, most of the time, thinking too carefully is a good attribute. Let's say you're an airline safety inspector. In that case, you really can't be too careful with your work. I would think that being "too careful" in that profession would be a good thing.

So, when someone says that "You can't be too careful in your work", they're trying to encourage you to be extremely careful and conscientious in your work.


--lotus
_________________
War does not make one great --Yoda

[rice07]

As Lotus mentioned earlier:

[cinqjoy]

Now I know the meaning.
Thanks for the reply, it helps me a lot!

by Joy

[rice07]

I concede that's a thorny question for people whose native language is not English to understand its literal meaning, because I had also been confused over this point, as you were, for a long while.

If you ponder over that example you raised, with "can't" meaning "to be unable to(or not to be permitted to)", then you'll get an opposite of its meaning.

Again, for your better understanding.

"You can't be too careful in your work" means " You should be extremely careful or do everything possible to avoid problems or danger in your work."

My elaboration on that, so far, is what I can come up with to help you understand well. Anyway, something might be beyond my ken. So, correct me if I'm wrong.