Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

what we can do when there’s nobody even watching

English answer:

they can do much more when nobody’s watching

Added to glossary by acetran
Nov 8, 2015 06:37
8 yrs ago
English term

what we can do when there’s nobody even watching

Non-PRO English Other Other
OLIVIA: Can you name even ONE thing we’ve done right? And I don’t mean managing to stay alive. Something that actually matters.
JESSE: Well, we won that building contest at Endercon.
OLIVIA: That was a CONTEST, Jesse.
JESSE: Right… and the competition was stiff. Just think what we can do when there’s nobody even watching!
OLIVIA: I like that way of looking at it.

I can’t really understand whether Jesse means they can do a lot when nobody’s watching or, on the contrary, they can do much less. Please advise!
Olivia is sorry about having done nothing special in their life. Jesse is trying to prove her wrong.
Thank you.
Change log

Nov 8, 2015 12:27: Tony M changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"

Nov 12, 2015 14:55: acetran Created KOG entry

Nov 12, 2015 14:56: acetran changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/1818886">acetran's</a> old entry - "what we can do when there’s nobody even watching"" to ""they can do a lot when nobody’s watching ""

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (3): Victoria Britten, ael, Tony M

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Responses

+7
5 mins
Selected

they can do a lot when nobody’s watching

Yes, Jesse means they can do a lot when nobody’s watching.

I can't think of any strong reasons for this due to lack of context. Maybe, in the CONTEST, people were watching, so there was distraction. When nobody is watching, they would be more focused and achieve a lot...
Peer comment(s):

agree Jack Doughty : I think your supposition is correct.
46 mins
Thanks
agree Victoria Britten
55 mins
neutral airmailrpl : a lot ??
2 hrs
agree Charles Davis : A lot is obviously implied; perhaps more precisely "even more".
3 hrs
Thanks
agree Thayenga : With Charles. :)
5 hrs
Thanks
agree Tony M : Yes, 'even more' as Charles says — perform better without the pressure of being in a competition in front of an audience.
5 hrs
agree Jean-Claude Gouin : Je suis d'accord avec vous ...
6 hrs
Thanks
agree Phong Le
1 day 17 hrs
Thanks
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks everybody!!!"
3 hrs

when no one is watching they can even achieve positive results

what we can do when there’s nobody even watching => when no one is watching they can even achieve positive results
Something went wrong...
+3
9 hrs

without the pressure of a contest they can do even better.

If they won a contest... without one the sky can be the limit. My take on this.
Peer comment(s):

agree Tina Vonhof (X) : Exactly!
2 mins
Many thanks!
agree Charles Davis
1 hr
Thanks so much!
agree Yvonne Gallagher : yes, they can do even more/even better
5 hrs
Many thanks!
Something went wrong...
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