Last word?_其他_趣味英语-查字典英语网

Last word?

On the other hand, if you hear someone say: “We haven’t heard the last word on healthcare reform yet.” That means the debate is inconclusive and will go on.

Back to our example from the top. I must point out that, in a debate between family members, the one who has the last word doesn’t always win on merit, i.e. win by rhetoric with good reasoning and fine judgment. Often the winner has merely demonstrated his or her authority over others. In other words, they have won by pulling out their trump card – of being a parent. In China, especially in feudal times but still by and large true in a lot of families today, that trump card still reigns supreme.

Or similarly in the office or any organization. We all seem to understand that the boss has the last word because we’ve been told for thousands of years that our bosses and officials are parental figures and should thus be treated as such.

Sure, we often hear the father of a family ask the child, after a few minutes of back and forth in debate: “Who do you think you’re talking to?” That’s usually when the child becomes mute. The child gets the message: He or she is but to obey instead of talking back. They give up. Hence the end of the argument – The father has had the last word.

In times like this, the father has demonstrated his authority. He may or may not have been convincing in the argument itself, but he still has the last word, like the judge who has the last word in a court case. Again, he may not have been convincing in the arguing process itself and he knows it. The son knows it. Other members of the family may have noticed it. All neighbors who happen to be present certainly have noticed it. But no matter, so long as he is still the supreme authoritarian figure, the father is happy. And when he’s happy, the family should be happy – according to his beneficent, generous and magnanimous thinking.