What can the phrase “is embedded in a whale of a bill” mean?What does the phrase “the terms of a debate” mean?What does the phrase “as_____is to ______” mean?What does this phrase “The chance of being wrecked” mean?What does the phrase “happen to be” mean?What can the phrase “form of life” mean?What does the phrase the more you know mean?What does the phrase 'nets out' mean?Phrase “Up in the stacks”. What would this phrase mean?What does the phrase “there is every chance that” mean?what does the phrase “where it really matters” mean?
What is an equivalently powerful replacement spell for the Yuan-Ti's Suggestion spell?
Are British MPs missing the point, with these 'Indicative Votes'?
Convert seconds to minutes
Do Iron Man suits sport waste management systems?
What is the most common color to indicate the input-field is disabled?
Does int main() need a declaration on C++?
Does the Idaho Potato Commission associate potato skins with healthy eating?
What is required to make GPS signals available indoors?
In the UK, is it possible to get a referendum by a court decision?
What exactly is ineptocracy?
Could neural networks be considered metaheuristics?
Am I breaking OOP practice with this architecture?
How can I prove that a state of equilibrium is unstable?
Why was Sir Cadogan fired?
GFCI outlets - can they be repaired? Are they really needed at the end of a circuit?
Should I tell management that I intend to leave due to bad software development practices?
Is there a hemisphere-neutral way of specifying a season?
Send out email when Apex Queueable fails and test it
How obscure is the use of 令 in 令和?
How do I exit BASH while loop using modulus operator?
Was the Stack Exchange "Happy April Fools" page fitting with the '90's code?
What are the G forces leaving Earth orbit?
OP Amp not amplifying audio signal
How dangerous is XSS
What can the phrase “is embedded in a whale of a bill” mean?
What does the phrase “the terms of a debate” mean?What does the phrase “as_____is to ______” mean?What does this phrase “The chance of being wrecked” mean?What does the phrase “happen to be” mean?What can the phrase “form of life” mean?What does the phrase the more you know mean?What does the phrase 'nets out' mean?Phrase “Up in the stacks”. What would this phrase mean?What does the phrase “there is every chance that” mean?what does the phrase “where it really matters” mean?
Here is an excerpt from “Abstinence Or Obstinacy?” (The Washington Post; May 17, 2002):
"Soon after, the measure providing more money for President Bush's cherished abstinence-only program sailed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, heading to the floor, where it passed yesterday. No surprise there. The provision to keep America's teenagers as ignorant as possible about sex -- even, as Capps knows, to teach them what is false -- is embedded in a whale of a bill that contains so much for so many that, should it have failed, it could only meant that our cherished political system has collapsed and reason has triumphed."
I thought that whales were marine mammals!
meaning-in-context phrase-meaning
edited 2 days ago
Michael Harvey
18.5k12341
asked 2 days ago
ZakZak
6271311
add a comment |
Here is an excerpt from “Abstinence Or Obstinacy?” (The Washington Post; May 17, 2002):
"Soon after, the measure providing more money for President Bush's cherished abstinence-only program sailed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, heading to the floor, where it passed yesterday. No surprise there. The provision to keep America's teenagers as ignorant as possible about sex -- even, as Capps knows, to teach them what is false -- is embedded in a whale of a bill that contains so much for so many that, should it have failed, it could only meant that our cherished political system has collapsed and reason has triumphed."
I thought that whales were marine mammals!
meaning-in-context phrase-meaning
edited 2 days ago
Michael Harvey
18.5k12341
asked 2 days ago
ZakZak
6271311
add a comment |
Here is an excerpt from “Abstinence Or Obstinacy?” (The Washington Post; May 17, 2002):
"Soon after, the measure providing more money for President Bush's cherished abstinence-only program sailed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, heading to the floor, where it passed yesterday. No surprise there. The provision to keep America's teenagers as ignorant as possible about sex -- even, as Capps knows, to teach them what is false -- is embedded in a whale of a bill that contains so much for so many that, should it have failed, it could only meant that our cherished political system has collapsed and reason has triumphed."
I thought that whales were marine mammals!
meaning-in-context phrase-meaning
edited 2 days ago
Michael Harvey
18.5k12341
asked 2 days ago
ZakZak
6271311
Here is an excerpt from “Abstinence Or Obstinacy?” (The Washington Post; May 17, 2002):
"Soon after, the measure providing more money for President Bush's cherished abstinence-only program sailed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, heading to the floor, where it passed yesterday. No surprise there. The provision to keep America's teenagers as ignorant as possible about sex -- even, as Capps knows, to teach them what is false -- is embedded in a whale of a bill that contains so much for so many that, should it have failed, it could only meant that our cherished political system has collapsed and reason has triumphed."
I thought that whales were marine mammals!
meaning-in-context phrase-meaning
meaning-in-context phrase-meaning
edited 2 days ago
Michael Harvey
18.5k12341
asked 2 days ago
ZakZak
6271311
edited 2 days ago
Michael Harvey
18.5k12341
asked 2 days ago
ZakZak
6271311
edited 2 days ago
Michael Harvey
18.5k12341
edited 2 days ago
Michael Harvey
18.5k12341
edited 2 days ago
Michael Harvey
18.5k12341
18.5k12341
asked 2 days ago
ZakZak
6271311
asked 2 days ago
ZakZak
6271311
asked 2 days ago
ZakZak
6271311
6271311
add a comment |
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
"Whale" here is a metaphor. A metaphor states that one thing is another thing. It equates those two things not because they actually are the same, but for the sake of comparison or symbolism. A whale is a large marine mammal, and the blue whale is the largest of all marine mammals. Also whales eat smaller creatures. To call something a "whale" of a thing is to employ the word as a metaphor to mean it is very big and, perhaps, capable of devouring or hiding many things.
What is a metaphor?
Metaphors relating to animals
answered 2 days ago
Michael HarveyMichael Harvey
18.5k12341
2
Why than say “imbedded in a whale” instead “is a whale of” or “is the whale of”?
– Zak
2 days ago
3
The "provision to keep America's teenagers ignorant about sex" is only one thing hidden or buried ("embedded") in a very large bill (piece of proposed legislation).
– Michael Harvey
2 days ago
2
I don't think you need to explain the concept of a metaphor here. It doesn't answer the question, really.
– poepje
2 days ago
1
I think perhaps the OP is not aware of the "an X of a Y" construction for using metaphors, rather than unaware of metaphors in general.
– Henning Makholm
2 days ago
1
@Zak A “bill” is a proposed law. So when the author says something is “embedded in a whale of a bill”: it is something important, but small, and placed in a huge bill with many other things. A “whale of a bill” means a tremendously huge, long bill. And the item is hidden somewhere in there.
– whiskeychief
2 days ago
|
show 3 more comments
I think you are parsing the phrase wrong, if you think that something is embedded in a whale. It should be read as "embedded in (a whale of a bill)".
As Michael Harvey pointed out, "a whale of a X" is a colloquial expression for "a very large X". So the phrase just says that the provision is embedded in a very large bill.
answered 2 days ago
Nate EldredgeNate Eldredge
1,869712
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "481"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);
else
createEditor();
);
function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);
);
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f203227%2fwhat-can-the-phrase-is-embedded-in-a-whale-of-a-bill-mean%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
"Whale" here is a metaphor. A metaphor states that one thing is another thing. It equates those two things not because they actually are the same, but for the sake of comparison or symbolism. A whale is a large marine mammal, and the blue whale is the largest of all marine mammals. Also whales eat smaller creatures. To call something a "whale" of a thing is to employ the word as a metaphor to mean it is very big and, perhaps, capable of devouring or hiding many things.
What is a metaphor?
Metaphors relating to animals
answered 2 days ago
Michael HarveyMichael Harvey
18.5k12341
2
Why than say “imbedded in a whale” instead “is a whale of” or “is the whale of”?
– Zak
2 days ago
3
The "provision to keep America's teenagers ignorant about sex" is only one thing hidden or buried ("embedded") in a very large bill (piece of proposed legislation).
– Michael Harvey
2 days ago
2
I don't think you need to explain the concept of a metaphor here. It doesn't answer the question, really.
– poepje
2 days ago
1
I think perhaps the OP is not aware of the "an X of a Y" construction for using metaphors, rather than unaware of metaphors in general.
– Henning Makholm
2 days ago
1
@Zak A “bill” is a proposed law. So when the author says something is “embedded in a whale of a bill”: it is something important, but small, and placed in a huge bill with many other things. A “whale of a bill” means a tremendously huge, long bill. And the item is hidden somewhere in there.
– whiskeychief
2 days ago
|
show 3 more comments
"Whale" here is a metaphor. A metaphor states that one thing is another thing. It equates those two things not because they actually are the same, but for the sake of comparison or symbolism. A whale is a large marine mammal, and the blue whale is the largest of all marine mammals. Also whales eat smaller creatures. To call something a "whale" of a thing is to employ the word as a metaphor to mean it is very big and, perhaps, capable of devouring or hiding many things.
What is a metaphor?
Metaphors relating to animals
answered 2 days ago
Michael HarveyMichael Harvey
18.5k12341
2
Why than say “imbedded in a whale” instead “is a whale of” or “is the whale of”?
– Zak
2 days ago
3
The "provision to keep America's teenagers ignorant about sex" is only one thing hidden or buried ("embedded") in a very large bill (piece of proposed legislation).
– Michael Harvey
2 days ago
2
I don't think you need to explain the concept of a metaphor here. It doesn't answer the question, really.
– poepje
2 days ago
1
I think perhaps the OP is not aware of the "an X of a Y" construction for using metaphors, rather than unaware of metaphors in general.
– Henning Makholm
2 days ago
1
@Zak A “bill” is a proposed law. So when the author says something is “embedded in a whale of a bill”: it is something important, but small, and placed in a huge bill with many other things. A “whale of a bill” means a tremendously huge, long bill. And the item is hidden somewhere in there.
– whiskeychief
2 days ago
|
show 3 more comments
"Whale" here is a metaphor. A metaphor states that one thing is another thing. It equates those two things not because they actually are the same, but for the sake of comparison or symbolism. A whale is a large marine mammal, and the blue whale is the largest of all marine mammals. Also whales eat smaller creatures. To call something a "whale" of a thing is to employ the word as a metaphor to mean it is very big and, perhaps, capable of devouring or hiding many things.
What is a metaphor?
Metaphors relating to animals
answered 2 days ago
Michael HarveyMichael Harvey
18.5k12341
"Whale" here is a metaphor. A metaphor states that one thing is another thing. It equates those two things not because they actually are the same, but for the sake of comparison or symbolism. A whale is a large marine mammal, and the blue whale is the largest of all marine mammals. Also whales eat smaller creatures. To call something a "whale" of a thing is to employ the word as a metaphor to mean it is very big and, perhaps, capable of devouring or hiding many things.
What is a metaphor?
Metaphors relating to animals
answered 2 days ago
Michael HarveyMichael Harvey
18.5k12341
edited 2 days ago
answered 2 days ago
Michael HarveyMichael Harvey
18.5k12341
answered 2 days ago
Michael HarveyMichael Harvey
18.5k12341
answered 2 days ago
Michael HarveyMichael Harvey
18.5k12341
18.5k12341
2
Why than say “imbedded in a whale” instead “is a whale of” or “is the whale of”?
– Zak
2 days ago
3
The "provision to keep America's teenagers ignorant about sex" is only one thing hidden or buried ("embedded") in a very large bill (piece of proposed legislation).
– Michael Harvey
2 days ago
2
I don't think you need to explain the concept of a metaphor here. It doesn't answer the question, really.
– poepje
2 days ago
1
I think perhaps the OP is not aware of the "an X of a Y" construction for using metaphors, rather than unaware of metaphors in general.
– Henning Makholm
2 days ago
1
@Zak A “bill” is a proposed law. So when the author says something is “embedded in a whale of a bill”: it is something important, but small, and placed in a huge bill with many other things. A “whale of a bill” means a tremendously huge, long bill. And the item is hidden somewhere in there.
– whiskeychief
2 days ago
|
show 3 more comments
2
Why than say “imbedded in a whale” instead “is a whale of” or “is the whale of”?
– Zak
2 days ago
3
The "provision to keep America's teenagers ignorant about sex" is only one thing hidden or buried ("embedded") in a very large bill (piece of proposed legislation).
– Michael Harvey
2 days ago
2
I don't think you need to explain the concept of a metaphor here. It doesn't answer the question, really.
– poepje
2 days ago
1
I think perhaps the OP is not aware of the "an X of a Y" construction for using metaphors, rather than unaware of metaphors in general.
– Henning Makholm
2 days ago
1
@Zak A “bill” is a proposed law. So when the author says something is “embedded in a whale of a bill”: it is something important, but small, and placed in a huge bill with many other things. A “whale of a bill” means a tremendously huge, long bill. And the item is hidden somewhere in there.
– whiskeychief
2 days ago
2
2
Why than say “imbedded in a whale” instead “is a whale of” or “is the whale of”?
– Zak
2 days ago
Why than say “imbedded in a whale” instead “is a whale of” or “is the whale of”?
– Zak
2 days ago
3
3
The "provision to keep America's teenagers ignorant about sex" is only one thing hidden or buried ("embedded") in a very large bill (piece of proposed legislation).
– Michael Harvey
2 days ago
The "provision to keep America's teenagers ignorant about sex" is only one thing hidden or buried ("embedded") in a very large bill (piece of proposed legislation).
– Michael Harvey
2 days ago
2
2
I don't think you need to explain the concept of a metaphor here. It doesn't answer the question, really.
– poepje
2 days ago
I don't think you need to explain the concept of a metaphor here. It doesn't answer the question, really.
– poepje
2 days ago
1
1
I think perhaps the OP is not aware of the "an X of a Y" construction for using metaphors, rather than unaware of metaphors in general.
– Henning Makholm
2 days ago
I think perhaps the OP is not aware of the "an X of a Y" construction for using metaphors, rather than unaware of metaphors in general.
– Henning Makholm
2 days ago
1
1
@Zak A “bill” is a proposed law. So when the author says something is “embedded in a whale of a bill”: it is something important, but small, and placed in a huge bill with many other things. A “whale of a bill” means a tremendously huge, long bill. And the item is hidden somewhere in there.
– whiskeychief
2 days ago
@Zak A “bill” is a proposed law. So when the author says something is “embedded in a whale of a bill”: it is something important, but small, and placed in a huge bill with many other things. A “whale of a bill” means a tremendously huge, long bill. And the item is hidden somewhere in there.
– whiskeychief
2 days ago
|
show 3 more comments
I think you are parsing the phrase wrong, if you think that something is embedded in a whale. It should be read as "embedded in (a whale of a bill)".
As Michael Harvey pointed out, "a whale of a X" is a colloquial expression for "a very large X". So the phrase just says that the provision is embedded in a very large bill.
answered 2 days ago
Nate EldredgeNate Eldredge
1,869712
add a comment |
I think you are parsing the phrase wrong, if you think that something is embedded in a whale. It should be read as "embedded in (a whale of a bill)".
As Michael Harvey pointed out, "a whale of a X" is a colloquial expression for "a very large X". So the phrase just says that the provision is embedded in a very large bill.
answered 2 days ago
Nate EldredgeNate Eldredge
1,869712
add a comment |
I think you are parsing the phrase wrong, if you think that something is embedded in a whale. It should be read as "embedded in (a whale of a bill)".
As Michael Harvey pointed out, "a whale of a X" is a colloquial expression for "a very large X". So the phrase just says that the provision is embedded in a very large bill.
answered 2 days ago
Nate EldredgeNate Eldredge
1,869712
I think you are parsing the phrase wrong, if you think that something is embedded in a whale. It should be read as "embedded in (a whale of a bill)".
As Michael Harvey pointed out, "a whale of a X" is a colloquial expression for "a very large X". So the phrase just says that the provision is embedded in a very large bill.
answered 2 days ago
Nate EldredgeNate Eldredge
1,869712
answered 2 days ago
Nate EldredgeNate Eldredge
1,869712
answered 2 days ago
Nate EldredgeNate Eldredge
1,869712
answered 2 days ago
Nate EldredgeNate Eldredge
1,869712
1,869712
add a comment |
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language Learners Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f203227%2fwhat-can-the-phrase-is-embedded-in-a-whale-of-a-bill-mean%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
