be all and end all

English translation: everything

10:06 Jul 1, 2003

English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary

English term or phrase: be all and end all

To a man standing on the roof and wanting to commit suicide:
Graham, you are a person. A person in your own right. Eyesight is not the be all and end all.

lim0nka KudoZ activity Questions: 1591 (5 open) (1 without valid answers) (13 closed without grading) Answers: 3319 United Kingdom
Local time: 23:10

Selected answer:everything

Explanation:
eyesight is not everything, not the most important thing

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Note added at 2003-07-01 10:09:31 (GMT)
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Seems like the person wants to commit suicide because he has lost his sight - the other person says that there is more to life than that - it\'s not the end of the world, you can have a fulfilling life even if you are blind

Selected response from:

Louise Mawbey
Germany
Local time: 00:10

Grading comment

Thank you.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +19

everything

Louise Mawbey

all-important element

Transflux (X)

not the only thing that is important

mportal

be all and end all

Catherine Norton

The phrase is from Shakespeare

Refugio

3 +1

Just a guess-some possible solutions.

PRAKASH SHARMA

the one and only reason / the main justification

RHELLER

Discussion entries: 1

Answers

1 min confidence:

peer agreement (net): +19

everything

Louise Mawbey
Germany
Local time: 00:10
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 22

Grading comment

Thank you.

42 mins confidence:

all-important element

Explanation:
: or be-all and end-all
NOUN: The quintessential or all-important element: “Not that the more spectacular athleticism is the be all and end all of free skating. Spins . . . and intricate step sequences are also important” (Howard Bass).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.

Transflux (X)
Local time: 00:10
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 16

44 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

Just a guess-some possible solutions.

Explanation:
Eye vision is not everything and most important thing in life that you can't live without it. You can live even without it.
Here eyesight may not only represent eyes vision but also as if the suicide attempter has seen something that he is not able to tolerate.
If eyesight means vision then it 'd be that
eyes does not mean everything to life. You may live without it.
If eyesight means something not telerable happening watched by attempter then it may be
everything that eye can look at is not always true. There may be something that you can't look without having proper understanding of situations. So, at first look at the whole incident or concept from your brain. Understand the whole thing and then only reach at some analysis.
These lines may mean some more hidden meaning too if it is from some literature as writer may want to express some more emotions from these lines.
Provide us with more contexts dear so that we may be able to help you correctly.
Just a guess!
PRAKAASH

PRAKASH SHARMA
India
Local time: 03:40
Native speaker of:

Hindi,

Nepali
PRO pts in pair: 4

2 hrs confidence:

not the only thing that is important

Explanation:
To say the 'be all and end all' is a dramatically emphatic way of saying that you can be a person without having eyesight. To express it in this way is appropriate to the urgency of getting the message across in the given situation, (particularly as it appears that the man in question is about to 'end it all' by committing suicide.

mportal
Local time: 23:10
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 4

2 hrs confidence:

the one and only reason / the main justification

Explanation:
main purpose - the ultimate
the one and only reason (to live)

Eyesight is not the only thing that makes living worthwhile

Eyesight is not the only thing that justifies living.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

be all and end all
The quintessential or all-important element

Reference: http://www.bartleby.com/61/27/B0132700.html

RHELLER
United States
Local time: 16:10
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 1252

15 hrs confidence:

be all and end all

Explanation:
The best explanation I can think of is that "eyesight is not the alpha to omega" of life (my apologies - "alpha" and "omega" are Greek meaning "a" to "z", rather than English) . But I think this is the sense of the phrase..

Catherine Norton
Local time: 15:10
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 4

1 day 7 hrs confidence:

The phrase is from Shakespeare

Explanation:
Shakespeare, Macbeth, i:7

"If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly: if the assassination could trammel up the consequence, and catch with his surcease success; that but this blow might be the be-all and the end-all here, but here, upon this bank and shoal of time, we'ld jump the life to come."

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Note added at 2003-07-02 17:39:46 (GMT) Post-grading
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Thus, in the moment of standing on the brink of death, ready to leap, the context of \'jump the life to come\' might come into play.

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Note added at 2003-07-02 17:43:07 (GMT) Post-grading
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And if the language sounds at all strange, it might be because it is four centuries old.

Refugio
Local time: 15:10
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 485

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English translation: everything

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