LingQ Forum

It looks like you are using an old version of Internet Explorer (IE6). We do our best to support IE6, but the site will work much better if you use a more up to date browser. We strongly recommend you upgrade to:

What does it mean "as breezy as it's heartbreaking"?

LingQ Forums - How to learn languages
| Ask Your Tutor
Question:What does it mean "as breezy as it's heartbreaking"?

Aug. 15, 2012, 8:46 a.m.

saberq
saberq CN
2 posts
I am listening a VOA news about the movie "Rudy Sparks" where I encounter the sentence "Rudy Sparks is an intelligent story, as breezy as it's heartbreaking, its superb cast makes it one of the season's best."

I don't understand the phrase "as breezy as it's heartbreaking", does it mean it is breezy and heartbreaking?

Thanks
Xiaojian

Aug. 15, 2012, 3:49 p.m.

Ernie
Ernie US
580 posts
Yes. Breezy means that it moves along lightly, gently and quickly, like a breeze. Something that is breezy would not normally be "weighty" nor emotional enough to be heartbreaking. Yet this story is said to be both breezy and heartbreaking.

Aug. 16, 2012, 4:57 a.m.

saberq
saberq CN
2 posts
Ernie, Thanks a lot for your reply. So can I use "as...as..." to express the meaning "both"? I am writing an essay about Courtesy, I wonder if it is used correctly in following sentence,

Politeness is respectable manner, as important as it’s effortless to implement. A simple "please" or "thank you" would suffice.

Thanks
Xiaojian

Aug. 16, 2012, 12:51 p.m.

Ernie
Ernie US
580 posts
Yes. "As . . . as . . . " is very much like "both . . . and . . . ." For your first sentence you might better say, "Politeness is respectful behavior."

Aug. 16, 2012, 1:14 p.m.

dcbaok
dcbaok US
43 posts
"as important as it is effortless" sounds more natural to my ear. Using "it is" instead of "it's". I don't know that it's incorrect to use the contraction but it sounds wrong to me.
To comment login or sign up for a free account

Available Languages

Beta Languages

LingQCentral Blog