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Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

had it figured out

English answer:

generally speaking, they understood everything

Added to glossary by Anna Maria Augustine (X)
May 29, 2005 17:13
19 yrs ago
4 viewers *
English term

had it figured out

Non-PRO English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Could you please tell me what does mean the following sentence in English language:
Generally thought they- a group of executives at the top- had it figured out when it came to how to manage the business.
thanks in advance
Responses
5 +4 They understood everything
4 +2 they knew all there is to know
5 +1 had understood the matter completely
4 +1 they had found a successful way to manage their business
4 already knew; had already worked it out

Discussion

Non-ProZ.com May 30, 2005:
all of the answers helped me to understand the sentence better, but unfortunately I couldn�t select all of them. many thanks,all.
Non-ProZ.com May 30, 2005:
Dear Anna Maria Augustin, Dear Nesrin: many thanks for your explanation,too.
Anna Maria Augustine (X) May 30, 2005:
You are very welcome.
Non-ProZ.com May 30, 2005:
Dear Anna Maria Augustin: many thanks for your explanation.
Nesrin May 30, 2005:
Ahh - that makes all the difference! Now it's perfectly clear that it's actually "People who (...) generally thought they had...". So THEY thought (etc)
Anna Moorby DipTrans May 30, 2005:
Ah, that clears it up, it does refer to the group of executives then. In which case it means that they thought they had it figured it. The 'generally' could even be omitted here.
Anna Maria Augustine (X) May 30, 2005:
So; they thought that in general (or generally speaking) they had understood everything. Well, they had understood most of it, anyway.
Non-ProZ.com May 30, 2005:
Dear Nesrin, Dear Anna Moorby DipTrans:The preceding sentence is as follow:
a group of executives at the top- people who knew each other well, shared history and beliefs, and generally thought they had........
Anna Moorby DipTrans May 30, 2005:
or, you would need IT IS generally thought THAT, in order to make a proper sentence in English
Nesrin May 30, 2005:
Not necessarily, Fareedeh. As Anna pointed out, it could also mean "They generally thought..", but it would be very useful to have the preceding sentence. If it meant sth like "Generally speaking,...", there SHOULD have been a comma after "thought"
Non-ProZ.com May 30, 2005:
Dear Anna Moorby DipTrans: many thanks for your response.So, I guess generally thought means something like generally speaking in English.
Anna Moorby DipTrans May 30, 2005:
If generally thought was referring to the "they", the group of executives, you would have to repeat they and turn the sentence around - they generally thought that they had it figured out etc. Hope that helps
xx
Anna Moorby DipTrans May 30, 2005:
Is this how the sentence begins?? I would imagine this is short for "it was generally thought that", in other words, the general opinion (held by most people) was that . . .
Non-ProZ.com May 30, 2005:
Please tell me what does mean "Generally thought" in this sentence,is it mean something like "generally speaking" or "thought" refers to "they" in this sentence.

Responses

+4
1 min
Selected

They understood everything

....

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Note added at 28 mins (2005-05-29 17:42:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Verb 1. figure out - find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of; \"did you solve the problem?\"; \"Work out your problems with the boss\"; \"this unpleasant situation isn\'t going to work itself out\"; \"did you get it?\"; \"Did you get my meaning?\"; \"He could not work the math problem\"
puzzle out, solve, lick, work out, work
understand - know and comprehend the nature or meaning of; \"She did not understand her husband\"; \"I understand what she means\"
answer, resolve - understand the meaning of; \"The question concerning the meaning of life cannot be answered\"
riddle - explain a riddle
strike - arrive at after reckoning, deliberating, and weighing; \"strike a balance\"; \"strike a bargain\"
guess, infer - guess correctly; solve by guessing; \"He guessed the right number of beans in the jar and won the prize\"
answer - give the correct answer or solution to; \"answer a question\"; \"answer the riddle\"
break - find the solution or key to; \"break the code\"

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Note added at 15 hrs 44 mins (2005-05-30 08:58:23 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

In general, they (the group of executives at the top of the company) thought that they had understood everything.

Generally speaking : is another possibility.

Hope this helps.
Peer comment(s):
agree Lietta Warren-Granato
1 hr
Thank you
agree conejo
2 hrs
Thank you
agree KNielsen
6 hrs
Thank you
agree Alfa Trans (X)
1 day 1 hr
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+2
1 min

they knew all there is to know

..
Peer comment(s):
agree Melanie Nassar
15 mins
agree KNielsen
6 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
0 min

had understood the matter completely

that's it!

xx

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Note added at 1 min (2005-05-29 17:15:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

or that they had all the answers, they already knew how to manage the business
Peer comment(s):
agree KNielsen
6 hrs
Cheers xx
Something went wrong...
+1
3 mins

they had found a successful way to manage their business

The had found the key to running the business efficiently, they knew exactly how to manage the business, etc. They are experts on the subject.

Good luck!
Peer comment(s):
agree Robert Donahue (X) : Right, that they knew it all. :-)
1 hr
Something went wrong...
9 hrs

already knew; had already worked it out

It means the executives already knew how to mangage the business. They had worked out how to mangage the business.
Something went wrong...
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