Mitsuo23 Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
"Holds the Line"?
Hi,
I hope I'm not asking you too much but I'm having trouble of understanding part of a paragraph. Would you rephrase it or answer my questions down blow.
The paragraph begins with this:
The crew is steering straight into a perfect summer at the Jolly Roger Hotel. During the day our trustworthy manager holds the line. At night they entrust this gorgeous beast of a hotel to me.
holds the line:
Does this have any other meaning than "waiting for someone to answer the phone"?
a hotel:
The main character is a hotel clerk working at the Jolly Roger. So I think it has to be "the hotel" not "a hotel."
I know all the meanings of the words in this paragraph, and yet, I cannot make sense out of it. I must be misunderstanding something. Please help me out.
Thank you in advance,
M
I hope I'm not asking you too much but I'm having trouble of understanding part of a paragraph. Would you rephrase it or answer my questions down blow.
The paragraph begins with this:
The crew is steering straight into a perfect summer at the Jolly Roger Hotel. During the day our trustworthy manager holds the line. At night they entrust this gorgeous beast of a hotel to me.
holds the line:
Does this have any other meaning than "waiting for someone to answer the phone"?
a hotel:
The main character is a hotel clerk working at the Jolly Roger. So I think it has to be "the hotel" not "a hotel."
I know all the meanings of the words in this paragraph, and yet, I cannot make sense out of it. I must be misunderstanding something. Please help me out.
Thank you in advance,
M
Top answer
manager holds the line = he makes sure that business runs as usual/he maintains a normal state of affairs this gorgeoous beast of a hotel. (this structure is very idiomatic) For instance you could say She's a beauty of a woman. He's one heck of a man.
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...manager holds the line = he makes sure that business runs as usual/he maintains a normal state of affairs
this gorgeoous beast of a hotel. (this structure is very idiomatic)
For instance you could say
She's a beauty of a woman.
He's one heck of a man.
This is a monster of a car.
this gorgeoous beast of a hotel. (this structure is very idiomatic)
For instance you could say
She's a beauty of a woman.
He's one heck of a man.
This is a monster of a car.
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