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English Grammar


Desagreement with a correction

felix the cat
User since 2008
Posts: 1

22 April 2008

The water was up to our knees.
This is incorrect. In this example, 'up to' means 'approaching' or 'as far as', and is used to describe the level of something, for example: The rate of child poverty in Africa is up to its highest level in years. The expression is different than Icarus' use of the idiom in the dialogue.


the Dictionnary Collins notices that "to be ....to one'sknees " is correct (as far as)


Can you explain ??

2 comments

  • User since 2006
    Posts: 2715

    23 April 2008

    Hi the cat!
    I can't understand what you mean.
    The water was up to our knees seems perfectly correct to me.
    To refer to your own expression " as far as", I'll say that the statement means "The water came up as far as reaching our knees."


    I was used to hearing of my site in Bahrain: We are stuck up to our ankles in sand.
    My electronic Larousse gives as example: We were up to our knees in mud.


    Please, Felix, no harm intended, eh! I didn' want to make any catty remark.
  • User since 2007
    Posts: 86

    23 April 2008

    Hello,


    The sentence ' ' uses the expression correctly. However, in this question we asked you to select those phrases which used the expression 'up to' 'in the same sense as Icarus uses it.'. This is why your answer was marked incorrect. I'll make the instructions clearer so that other users don't make the same mistake.

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