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View Poll Results: "I just about passed the test" means...
I passed the test, but just barely 7 25.00%
I did not pass the test, though I nearly did 15 53.57%
There's a test? Screw you and you're test. 1 3.57%
:derpoland: 5 17.86%
Voters: 28. You may not vote on this poll

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  #1  
Old 04-25-2016, 04:14 PM
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Default I just about can't believe it

Ok, if I say the sentence "I just about passed the test" what does it mean to you?

Edit: liv don't bother editing my your/you're blunder, let it live on and shame me forever more
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  #2  
Old 04-25-2016, 06:11 PM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

It might also mean "[I think] I got the pass mark [but since we haven't got the results yet I'm not sure]". "Just" = "no more (and no less)" and "about" = "except not quite". (And "quite" = "exactly" and "exactly" = :rolleye2:.)
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Old 04-25-2016, 06:12 PM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

Also, your careless.
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Old 04-25-2016, 06:14 PM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

I suspect the accepted meaning of "just about passed" might be one of those things that varies from state to state in the US, and from one end of the street to the other in the UK.
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Old 04-25-2016, 07:15 PM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

According to further digging I have done around the interwebs, it seems 'just about' means "not quite" pretty much everywhere except England and Wales. Even Scotland and Ireland agree with the Americas (as well as Australia, NZ and others).

I've been watching the snooker here and they use that phrase sooooo much and it's driving me nuts to hear them say it meaning 'barely'. Like "he can just about see the blue" to mean "he can barely see the blue ball" instead of "he can't quite see the blue ball" WHICH IT CLEARLY MEANS*

I thought I would get some informal polling results from the multi-national :ff:

JoeP you are confusing me because you chose the WRONG answer yet you are from SA, I believe? Which my interweb searching had told me was a country that was on the correct side :chin:

Also, it seems tiny Luxembergians also have the wrong idea.

*Sou says it CLEARLY doesn't
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Old 04-25-2016, 08:41 PM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

IT'S YOU! "YOUR" WRONG! :glare:
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Old 04-25-2016, 10:05 PM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeP View Post
Also, your careless.
No you'res. :P
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Old 04-25-2016, 10:07 PM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

PS - I barely failed! That should clear it right up!
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Old 04-25-2016, 11:00 PM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

Quote:
Originally Posted by slimshady2357 View Post
JoeP you are confusing me because you chose the WRONG answer yet you are from SA, I believe? Which my interweb searching had told me was a country that was on the correct side :chin:
Born and brought up in England. So by definition my side is the correct side.

SA only from age of 30ish.
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  #10  
Old 04-25-2016, 11:20 PM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

Yeah, "just barely passed the test" would mean getting a D/D- instead of an F.

Whereas "just about passed the test" would mean nearly getting a D, but still ending up with an F.
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Old 04-25-2016, 11:27 PM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

Slim's theory sounds about right then. I would have sided with the English myself if I had to guess what they meant. I guess us Europeans are more heavily influenced by the UK (or were when we grew up).
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Old 04-26-2016, 12:01 AM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

I agree with Sou.

'He can just about see the black ball', means the same as, 'He can just see the black ball.'

The word 'about' in this phrase is just verbal padding and doesn't affect the meaning.
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  #13  
Old 04-26-2016, 07:53 AM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

Quote:
Originally Posted by ceptimus View Post
I agree with Sou.

'He can just about see the black ball', means the same as, 'He can just see the black ball.'

The word 'about' in this phrase is just verbal padding and doesn't affect the meaning.
That is crazy! Crazy I tell you.

About means:

:almost or nearly
: very close to doing something
About | Definition of About by Merriam-Webster

Of course it affects the meaning :kookoo:

Anyway, Sou's defence is always the same as JoeP's in these situations. "We are the English, we invented the language, we are correct by definition".

I say :ptht:
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  #14  
Old 04-26-2016, 08:05 AM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

I would think that you are in the process of passing it and are nearly done?
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Old 04-26-2016, 08:08 AM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

But if I have "about 20 apples" I might just as easily have more than 20 apples as having less than 20? "Just" = barely, "about" = approximately, "passed" = on the winning/positive side of the cut-off.

To me "just about passed the test" obviously means they scraped through it, and to even suggest differently seems crazy.
But then the English in some areas have started saying abominations like "half five", which obviously means 4:30. :snob:
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Old 04-26-2016, 08:29 AM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

Quote:
Originally Posted by Miisa View Post
But if I have "about 20 apples" I might just as easily have more than 20 apples as having less than 20? "Just" = barely, "about" = approximately, "passed" = on the winning/positive side of the cut-off.

To me "just about passed the test" obviously means they scraped through it, and to even suggest differently seems crazy.
But then the English in some areas have started saying abominations like "half five", which obviously means 4:30. :snob:
You, sir, are very wise and I agree with everything you say from now on.
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Old 04-26-2016, 09:10 AM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

Yeah, as Miisa said, in British English 'About' does not mean 'Almost' or 'Nearly' - rather it means 'Approximately'.

In England, if you told a policeman you were driving 'at about seventy miles an hour', it would mean that you may or may not have been breaking the speed limit. Presumably a Canadian saying the same thing would be asserting that he was definitely below the limit?
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Old 04-26-2016, 09:51 AM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

Quote:
Originally Posted by ceptimus View Post
Presumably a Canadian saying the same thing would be asserting that he was definitely below the limit?
I just aboot can't believe it.
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Old 04-26-2016, 10:19 AM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

Quote:
Originally Posted by slimshady2357 View Post
That is crazy! Crazy I tell you.

About means:

:almost or nearly
And this, THIS on or about the Queen's 90th birthday. For shame. Worse than Hitler. :sadcheer:
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Old 04-26-2016, 04:03 PM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

About is one of those words with a thousand different meanings.

Going about 70 MPH is the approximately sense. It could be under or over.

"I just about passed the test" would mean, to me, they almost passed the test. Without about, "I just passed the test" would be I did pass the test, but just barely. (Unless just meant very recently.) I would interpret the about as modifying 'just.' So I came close to barely passing the test [but did not].

I think this is maybe a specific US dialect or something, but people will also say things like, "I about lost my mind" to mean they came very close to something, but did not quite do it. I think that's the same usage.
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Old 04-26-2016, 05:54 PM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

Yeah, about with numbers has a meaning of "approximately". Making it "just about" tightens the distribution (it should be closer to the given number). But in other senses, it's more like "nearly".

The number thing doesn't help the English, though, if "He can just about see the ball" means that he definitely can see it, but only barely. So it means "barely". And "barely" is just as different from "approximately" as "nearly" is.
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Old 04-26-2016, 07:00 PM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

I would think "He can just about see the ball" means that he can almost see the ball. So the ball is just a little bit out of his range of sight.

I also think that all of you people talk like hillbillies.
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Old 04-26-2016, 07:24 PM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

"She can do just about anything."

In British English that means she is one of those annoying people who can do almost anything you can think of - and to say it about her would be to pay her a compliment. What would it mean in American?
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Old 04-26-2016, 08:06 PM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

Quote:
Originally Posted by ceptimus View Post
"She can do just about anything."

In British English that means she is one of those annoying people who can do almost anything you can think of - and to say it about her would be to pay her a compliment. What would it mean in American?
Whaaaaat? :nowai:

Now you're saying that "just about" does mean 'almost' sometimes in England too? Damn you English. :shakeengland:
It would mean the same in Canada, that she can do almost anything.
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Old 04-26-2016, 08:11 PM
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Default Re: I just about can't believe it

I knee-jerk voted for the first option because of what cep said, but then I read the second option and it made sense too. MY BWAIN HURTS.
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