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English to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Slang / Phrasal verb
English term or phrase:bring it to
Hello,
context: the Author is talking about how Lisa Nova, an amateur filmmaker, made a parody of Diddy/Puff Daddy's video on YouTube where he proclaimed himselft "king of music and fashion". Here's the sentence:
"Nova had no hip-hop credentials whatsoever, but she still managed to **bring it to** one of the movement's most famous icons because she kept it real".
What does "bring it to" mean here?
I understand credentials is plural, so "it" should not be referring to credentials. I know "bring to" means "revive, bring back to life", but then "it" should not be there.
Thank you Dim and thank you all for your help. I've re-read the whole thing and "challenge" fits the context well. 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
inferred, without sounding unreasonable. This being the case, in your position, I'd contact the author for clarification, perhaps presenting some of the alternatives posted below as possible interpretations.
Hi Adele: I really wouldn't like to hasard a guess as to the intended meaning here. I don't think it's a matter of being slang, but quite simply of not making sense as it is written. As you see from the answers posted, almost any interpretation could be
Hi Carol, I can't really comment on the writing as such. I guess the writer is doing it on purpose, he is writing about youth cultures so he is using slang and very colloquial expressions. And slang is often grammatically incorrect :-) As I keep reading the sentence, it dawned on me that "bring it to" could mean something like "challenge"... Would that make sense?
Hi Adele: I'm afraid this is a case of very bad writing, that consequently doesn't really say anything. All that can be guessed is that "it" refers to the film she made, which was a parody....
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
31 mins confidence:
she managed to make it become ´------
Explanation: would be my suggestion
Ellen Kraus Local time: 03:23 Native speaker of: German
Explanation: I can understand your problem with the sentence. As you say, it's not necessarily grammatically correct, but as a native speaker that shouldn't necessarily stop me understanding it, even if it makes me wince.
In this case, I'm not really sure I do understand the meaning. but my best guess wouyld be that she succeeded in making a valid statement about this person. It worked because she stuck to the facts - that was important because she didn't know anything about him or his music.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 40 mins (2008-10-29 11:27:06 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
The other possibility would be "she managed to bring it to the attention of ..." ie people like it, it went up the listings (you know - the system of asterisks where people vote for things they like) and finally came to the artist's attention. If it hadn't been popular, he'd never have known about it.
But I don't really like that theory as there's no real logical link between the cause and effect here.
Sheila Wilson Spain Local time: 02:23 Native speaker of: English
Notes to answerer
Asker: Hi Sheila, thanks. "Make a statement" sounds very plausible, too. The whole chapter is about "real talk", i.e. being truthful about what you say. So "make a statement" could work.
d_vachliot Local time: 04:23 Native speaker of: Greek PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thank you Dim and thank you all for your help. I've re-read the whole thing and "challenge" fits the context well.
Notes to answerer
Asker: Hi Dim, thanks for that (and for changing the field of the question!) I should have thought about the urban dictionary (I am using it a lot for this book) - seems to confirm what I thought. But maybe Carol is right, I should contact the author about this.
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