How to understand “with two minutes to go to the bell” in this context?
“After the lesson,” Snape snapped.
Under the pretext of holding up a measuring cup to see if he'd poured
out enough armadillo bile, Harry sneaked a sidelong glance at the pair
of them. Karkaroff looked extremely worried, and Snape looked angry.
Karkaroff hovered behind Snape's desk for the rest of the double
period. He seemed intent on preventing Snape from slipping away at the
end of class. Keen to hear what Karkaroff wanted to say, Harry
deliberately knocked over his bottle of armadillo bile with two
minutes to go to the bell, which gave him an excuse to duck down
behind his cauldron and mop up while the rest of the class moved
noisily toward the door.
The scene is in Snape's Potion class. I don't understand "with two
minutes to go to the bell". I think "the bell" is supposed to ring for the class dismissal here. But what does "go to the bell" mean? And "with two minutes" is confusing too. What does it mean exactly in this context?
-- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
meaning-in-context
add a comment |
“After the lesson,” Snape snapped.
Under the pretext of holding up a measuring cup to see if he'd poured
out enough armadillo bile, Harry sneaked a sidelong glance at the pair
of them. Karkaroff looked extremely worried, and Snape looked angry.
Karkaroff hovered behind Snape's desk for the rest of the double
period. He seemed intent on preventing Snape from slipping away at the
end of class. Keen to hear what Karkaroff wanted to say, Harry
deliberately knocked over his bottle of armadillo bile with two
minutes to go to the bell, which gave him an excuse to duck down
behind his cauldron and mop up while the rest of the class moved
noisily toward the door.
The scene is in Snape's Potion class. I don't understand "with two
minutes to go to the bell". I think "the bell" is supposed to ring for the class dismissal here. But what does "go to the bell" mean? And "with two minutes" is confusing too. What does it mean exactly in this context?
-- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
meaning-in-context
add a comment |
“After the lesson,” Snape snapped.
Under the pretext of holding up a measuring cup to see if he'd poured
out enough armadillo bile, Harry sneaked a sidelong glance at the pair
of them. Karkaroff looked extremely worried, and Snape looked angry.
Karkaroff hovered behind Snape's desk for the rest of the double
period. He seemed intent on preventing Snape from slipping away at the
end of class. Keen to hear what Karkaroff wanted to say, Harry
deliberately knocked over his bottle of armadillo bile with two
minutes to go to the bell, which gave him an excuse to duck down
behind his cauldron and mop up while the rest of the class moved
noisily toward the door.
The scene is in Snape's Potion class. I don't understand "with two
minutes to go to the bell". I think "the bell" is supposed to ring for the class dismissal here. But what does "go to the bell" mean? And "with two minutes" is confusing too. What does it mean exactly in this context?
-- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
meaning-in-context
“After the lesson,” Snape snapped.
Under the pretext of holding up a measuring cup to see if he'd poured
out enough armadillo bile, Harry sneaked a sidelong glance at the pair
of them. Karkaroff looked extremely worried, and Snape looked angry.
Karkaroff hovered behind Snape's desk for the rest of the double
period. He seemed intent on preventing Snape from slipping away at the
end of class. Keen to hear what Karkaroff wanted to say, Harry
deliberately knocked over his bottle of armadillo bile with two
minutes to go to the bell, which gave him an excuse to duck down
behind his cauldron and mop up while the rest of the class moved
noisily toward the door.
The scene is in Snape's Potion class. I don't understand "with two
minutes to go to the bell". I think "the bell" is supposed to ring for the class dismissal here. But what does "go to the bell" mean? And "with two minutes" is confusing too. What does it mean exactly in this context?
-- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
meaning-in-context
meaning-in-context
edited 3 hours ago
asked 4 hours ago
dan
4,36022565
4,36022565
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
You are correct that the bell signifies the end of the class. However, the word "go" should not be joined with "to the bell"; rather you should read it as with "two minutes to go | to the bell". The phrase "to go" is a way of saying "the time that is left until something will happen". In this case the something is the bell ringing, and the time until it will happen is two minutes.
So putting this together, the phrase means "when there were two minutes left until the bell would ring". At that point Harry knocks over his bottle because that will give him an excuse to remain in the classroom even after the bell rings and everyone else leaves, which will enable him to eavesdrop on Snape and Karkaroff while they talk without realizing he is there.
That makes sense! Thanks!
– dan
4 hours ago
@dan You’re welcome.
– Alex
4 hours ago
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "481"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f190681%2fhow-to-understand-with-two-minutes-to-go-to-the-bell-in-this-context%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
You are correct that the bell signifies the end of the class. However, the word "go" should not be joined with "to the bell"; rather you should read it as with "two minutes to go | to the bell". The phrase "to go" is a way of saying "the time that is left until something will happen". In this case the something is the bell ringing, and the time until it will happen is two minutes.
So putting this together, the phrase means "when there were two minutes left until the bell would ring". At that point Harry knocks over his bottle because that will give him an excuse to remain in the classroom even after the bell rings and everyone else leaves, which will enable him to eavesdrop on Snape and Karkaroff while they talk without realizing he is there.
That makes sense! Thanks!
– dan
4 hours ago
@dan You’re welcome.
– Alex
4 hours ago
add a comment |
You are correct that the bell signifies the end of the class. However, the word "go" should not be joined with "to the bell"; rather you should read it as with "two minutes to go | to the bell". The phrase "to go" is a way of saying "the time that is left until something will happen". In this case the something is the bell ringing, and the time until it will happen is two minutes.
So putting this together, the phrase means "when there were two minutes left until the bell would ring". At that point Harry knocks over his bottle because that will give him an excuse to remain in the classroom even after the bell rings and everyone else leaves, which will enable him to eavesdrop on Snape and Karkaroff while they talk without realizing he is there.
That makes sense! Thanks!
– dan
4 hours ago
@dan You’re welcome.
– Alex
4 hours ago
add a comment |
You are correct that the bell signifies the end of the class. However, the word "go" should not be joined with "to the bell"; rather you should read it as with "two minutes to go | to the bell". The phrase "to go" is a way of saying "the time that is left until something will happen". In this case the something is the bell ringing, and the time until it will happen is two minutes.
So putting this together, the phrase means "when there were two minutes left until the bell would ring". At that point Harry knocks over his bottle because that will give him an excuse to remain in the classroom even after the bell rings and everyone else leaves, which will enable him to eavesdrop on Snape and Karkaroff while they talk without realizing he is there.
You are correct that the bell signifies the end of the class. However, the word "go" should not be joined with "to the bell"; rather you should read it as with "two minutes to go | to the bell". The phrase "to go" is a way of saying "the time that is left until something will happen". In this case the something is the bell ringing, and the time until it will happen is two minutes.
So putting this together, the phrase means "when there were two minutes left until the bell would ring". At that point Harry knocks over his bottle because that will give him an excuse to remain in the classroom even after the bell rings and everyone else leaves, which will enable him to eavesdrop on Snape and Karkaroff while they talk without realizing he is there.
answered 4 hours ago
Alex
5155
5155
That makes sense! Thanks!
– dan
4 hours ago
@dan You’re welcome.
– Alex
4 hours ago
add a comment |
That makes sense! Thanks!
– dan
4 hours ago
@dan You’re welcome.
– Alex
4 hours ago
That makes sense! Thanks!
– dan
4 hours ago
That makes sense! Thanks!
– dan
4 hours ago
@dan You’re welcome.
– Alex
4 hours ago
@dan You’re welcome.
– Alex
4 hours ago
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language Learners Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Some of your past answers have not been well-received, and you're in danger of being blocked from answering.
Please pay close attention to the following guidance:
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f190681%2fhow-to-understand-with-two-minutes-to-go-to-the-bell-in-this-context%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown