two and two comes to five

English translation: that's the conclusion I (Gazza) reached

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	two and two comes to five
Selected answer:	that's the conclusion I (Gazza) reached
Entered by:	Yvonne Gallagher

10:09 Jan 15, 2016

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

English term or phrase: two and two comes to five

Hello everyone

Paul Gascoigne talks:

http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?mov...

And I just wanted to get back playing again. I had to. I had a big move on.
Spurs were making money from us. I had an opportunity in playing abroad.
And that's all I knew, football, I mean, two and two comes to five.
No, that was all I knew, football.

What does the phrase in question mean?

Thank you.

Mikhail Korolev KudoZ activity Questions: 2414 (none open) (10 closed without grading) Answers: 130
Local time: 07:44

that's the conclusion I (Gazza) reached

Explanation:
nothing to do with him not being able to count! It's an idiomatic expression.

2+2 =4 = logical conclusion

2+2=5 can have a few interpretations depending on the context. Here I believe it means thatthe conclusion he has reached is that
a) the only thing he's really good at is football
b) he wants to ge back to playing
and c) that going abroad is an opportunity for him to do that

so it all adds up to 5 in this case as it (going abroad) is his best option at this moment it seems (so yes, sometimes it does mean something added on as Veronika suggests)

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Note added at 1 hr (2016-01-15 11:55:40 GMT)
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http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/put two and two together

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/2-2-5

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Note added at 1 hr (2016-01-15 11:56:56 GMT)
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sometimes "put two and two together and come up with five" is an idiom that means you come to the wrong conclusion but that isNOT the meaning here

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Note added at 2 hrs (2016-01-15 12:13:02 GMT)
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Of course it could be argued that he DID make the wrong decision in going to Italy as he didn't get the chance to play in the UK for 2 years (he broke his leg and was out injured for a long time when with Lazio) and he does seem to regret it a bit in this part of the script:
GASCOIGNE: So I missed about
two years, really, in playing out there,
so I never got the chance to really (play/showthe fans),
before I moved on to Rangers,
to really show the fans
what I really could do, you know?

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Note added at 4 days (2016-01-19 10:36:32 GMT) Post-grading
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Glad to have helped

Selected response from:

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 05:44

Grading comment

Many thanks to everyone.

Thank you, Gallagy.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

2 +6

he is bad at everything except football

Jonathan MacKerron

You have to believe it even if it doesn't seem to make sense

B D Finch

that's the conclusion I (Gazza) reached

Yvonne Gallagher

something additional

Veronica Allievi

Answers

11 mins confidence:

something additional

Explanation:
maybe, the idea of playing abroad was something that added to the normal prospects of his career, so two plus two made more than four (the linear reading of his career as a local player would not have included this opportunity), five.

Veronica Allievi
Local time: 01:44
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish

8 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

he is bad at everything except football

Explanation:
The fact that he can't even add two and two together underscores his lack of talent for anything but football.

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Note added at 12 mins (2016-01-15 10:22:08 GMT)
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He himself is admitting that football is all he can do.

Jonathan MacKerron
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 37

52 mins confidence:

You have to believe it even if it doesn't seem to make sense

Explanation:
The usual form of this phrase is "two and two makes five" or "2 + 2 = 5"

George Orwell 1984

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Note added at 54 mins (2016-01-15 11:03:26 GMT)
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In this quotation, he seems to be saying that any other choice would make no sense.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_%2B_2_%3D_5

B D Finch
France
Local time: 06:44
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 192

1 hr confidence:

that's the conclusion I (Gazza) reached

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 05:44
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 659

Grading comment

Many thanks to everyone.

Thank you, Gallagy.

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English translation: that's the conclusion I (Gazza) reached

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