Carla Lopes (asker) Nov 29, 2009:

sim, como disse, a expressão surge em imensos contextos, mas é mesmo esse o sentido e estava-me a escapar! Obrigada

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida Nov 29, 2009:

O contexto parece... ... confirmar a minha intuição...

Carla Lopes (asker) Nov 29, 2009:

outro exemplo: Despite some glaringly obvious faults, Whitacre's got some virtues, too—even though some of those virtues manifest themselves in counterintuitive ways. For example, Whitacre puts his career and freedom on the line to blow the proverbial whistle—and he does it at least in part for some reasonably good motives. He obviously cares about many of the people he works with, for example. And he's willing to apologize for what he's done wrong.

Carla Lopes (asker) Nov 29, 2009:

é uma expressão idiomática... aparece em vários contextos, por exemplo:
Or maybe kicked out of the club for good. But it seems to me that every time we choose not to own our womanness — and all the differences (like the willingness to blow the proverbial whistle and the tendency to be discreet about it, all despite the fact that we’ll likely be vilified for it)

Adriana Maciel Nov 29, 2009:

Context?