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Grammar question: meaning of "deep, dark secret"
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 2:02 pm
by hereinchina
Hello,
What is the meaning of the expression "deep, dark secret"? Can you also give me an example of how to use the expression in a sentence.
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 5:36 pm
by ouyang
From
http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/
Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers have a terrible, deep , dark secret that the article failed to uncover.
A CONSERVATIVE FEMALE CANDIDATE FOR THE U.S. SUPREME COURT HAS A DEEP , dark secret that could derail her nomination.
The sorry pension benefit plan for pre-1977 players is, as former Oakland Raiders great Howie Long said last year, " the deep , dark secret nobody wants to talk about. "
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This phrase refers to some negative information about a subject that informed people avoid mentioning. Eventually, the majority of people have a more positive view of the subject than is warranted.
The deep, dark secret of EFL is that foreign languages cannot be taught; they can only be learned.

thanks for the answer
Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2011 2:42 pm
by hereinchina
Hello,
thanks for taking the time to answer my question, as well as the link.
Best wishes