MSGID: 1:153/716.0 e38eecc1   
   REPLY: 3:770/100 d1be1a91   
   CHRS: IBMPC 2   
   Hi & welcome, Dan!  Recently you wrote in a message to Alexander Koryagin:   
      
    AK>  Another strange expression in English. In Russia we see it   
    AK>  like "It is the best such people like you can do! (and very   
    AK>  possibly there are a lot of people who can do better)."   
      
    DC>  That's an unfortunate interpretation.   
      
      
              Agreed.  I might use it to mean "well done", but in such situations   
   I'm reacting favourably to a person's efforts... not judging a talent contest.   
      
      
      
    DC>  I think most people would say to mean something like, "I see   
    DC>  and am pleased that something good has happened to you" or   
    DC>  perhaps "I am happy that something good has happened to you."   
      
      
              Yes, I've heard it used in such a manner.   
      
      
      
    AK>  But in reality you probably mean "You are a smart guy!"?   
      
    DC>  I don't think it's usually a statement of intelligence;   
      
      
              I certainly don't take it that way, if intelligence is perceived as   
   the ability to get good marks on standardized tests.  As a teacher I recognize   
   that there are many different types of intelligence.  And I appreciate that in   
   the E_T echo there are many intelligent readers who can explain various issues   
   in various ways, so I needn't be the Fount of All Knowledge & Wisdom.  I can't   
   see the baffled looks on people's faces from where I sit.  But I'd give a gold   
   star for Emotional Intelligence to the young man who, in a tale I've recounted   
   here before, said "Grow up, Dude... there's an accident!" to another fellow of   
   +/- the same age who evidently believed the world revolves around him.  If I'd   
   shared my thoughts with the latter, he probably couldn't have cared less.  :-Q   
      
      
      
    DC>  it's rather more general than that.  It's often used as   
    DC>  an expression where you might say, "that is good" or   
    DC>  "that is great".   
      
      
              My CANADIAN OXFORD says it is an "exclamation of approval towards a   
   person"... and IMHO it could include something a person has said or done which   
   seems exactly right under the circumstances.  If their behaviour is out of the   
   ordinary &/or requires a bit of risk-taking, that adds some weight AFAIC.  :-)   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
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