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soaked in the couple of minutes

English translation: No mistake

14:51 Sep 1, 2018
English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
English term or phrase: soaked in the couple of minutes
She was soaked in the couple of minutes before reaching the station.

I did not understand the meaning of "soaked in the couple of minutes". Don't you think there is a mistake here?

Thank you
Maher Souilah
Tunisia
Local time: 22:05
Selected answer:No mistake
Explanation:
8:55am Sep 1 [Click here to delete your post]

Originally posted in 'discussion':
It means: She was soaked by the rain during the couple of minutes it took her to walk/run to the bus/train station. It must have been mentioned before that it was raining.
Selected response from:

Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 15:05
Grading comment
Thank you for the explanation
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
3 +2she got very wet before reaching the station
Darius Saczuk
4 +1the station wasn't far away, but the rain was so heavy that she still got soaked
Daryo
5she was drenched (with rain)/wet through in the couple/few minutes
David Hollywood
4 +1No mistake
Tina Vonhof (X)


Discussion entries: 7





  

Answers


2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
she got very wet before reaching the station


Explanation:
Imo

Darius Saczuk
United States
Local time: 17:05
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in PolishPolish, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 124

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  philgoddard: You can't ignore "the couple of minutes".
1 min
  -> True. Tina has already posted a clarification.
agree  Shekhar Banerjee: Yes, that seems to be the most probable meaning!
29 mins
  -> Thank you, Shekhar.
neutral  B D Finch: Not really. What you've omitted, "in the couple of minutes", tells us both that the rain was very heavy and how long it took to get to the station. "Soaked" is stronger than "very wet", it means as wet as it's possible to be. /Omission = translation error
54 mins
  -> Thank you for your edifying comment. I know the meaning of "soaked" very well. I could have written "drenched", but the asker would be more confused. Tina has clarified the rest. Thank you for your error correction and invaluable feedback.
agree  Jack Doughty
1 hr
  -> Thank you, Jack.
disagree  Daryo: wrong emphasis - the ways the story is presented the emphasis is on the shortness of time vs. "getting drenched", the implied KEY POINT being that it was an extremely heavy rain - a proper downpour//you keep talking of secondary aspects of this ST.
6 hrs
  ->  Both "get soaked" and "get drenched" mean "get extremely wet". The rest has already been clarified by Tina in the discussion box. You're beating a dead horse. The issue has been settled.
agree  AllegroTrans
21 hrs
  -> Thank you, AllegroTrans.
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
She was soaked in the couple of minutes before reaching the station.
the station wasn't far away, but the rain was so heavy that she still got soaked


Explanation:
She was soaked in the couple of minutes before reaching the station.
=>
It took her only a couple of minutes to get to the station (short walk? short bicycle ride?) but the rain was so heavy that even in that sort period of time she got soaked (her cloths got imbibed with rain water) before she could get there.

"the station" it's not some abstract "any station" it's a reference to a specific station, that must have been defined/identified in the preceding text in some way.

the couple of minutes before reaching the station" = again "the" indicate that it's not some random/undefined period of time, but a specific period of time defined by "how long it takes to get to the (previously identified) station" (implied: starting from wherever she was at the end of the previous part of the story)

"couple of minutes" = she was exposed to the rain for a short time.

"The nuance", or more accurately the key point:

If you are exposed to mild rain, stay under the rain long enough (one hour/two hours ...) and you will eventually get soaked.

If you get soaked in just few minutes, it must be a downpour.


Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:05
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in SerbianSerbian, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tina Vonhof (X)
1 day 17 hrs
  -> Thanks!
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1 day 10 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
she was drenched (with rain)/wet through in the couple/few minutes


Explanation:
before she reached the station

David Hollywood
Local time: 18:05
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 116
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 day 23 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
No mistake


Explanation:
8:55am Sep 1 [Click here to delete your post]

Originally posted in 'discussion':
It means: She was soaked by the rain during the couple of minutes it took her to walk/run to the bus/train station. It must have been mentioned before that it was raining.

Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 15:05
Native speaker of: Native in DutchDutch, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thank you for the explanation

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Darius Saczuk
9 days
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