Question
Updated on
4 Mar 2015
- Simplified Chinese (China)
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English (US)
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English (UK)
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French (France)
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Question about English (US)
What is the difference between "get one's point across" and "make a point" ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
What is the difference between "get one's point across" and "make a point" ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
Edited *
Before: "point across" vs "point made"
Before: "point across" vs "point made"
Answers
4 Mar 2015
Featured answer
- English (UK)
- Welsh Near fluent
Oh, I see! No, "make a point" on its own is not that aggressive, but it quickly goes in aggressive directions. It's just like "argue" in that way - for example, you can easily make a neutral argument, but then you have terms like "having an argument" and "arguing with" which are hostile.
"to get one's point across" means "to convince with effort" - the person you're explaining to might not understand, or might not want to hear you.
"to make one's point" means "to explain one's argument". It is the less aggressive of the two. If you're saying things like "I'm trying to make my point", you might want to consider "I'm trying to explain myself" as a completely neutral alternative.
"make my point" tends to blame the other person for not understanding, whereas "explain myself" tends to blame you for not explaining correctly.
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- English (UK)
- Welsh Near fluent
" 'Point across at him,' I told her, and she pointed across the road at the man she'd seen."
" 'If the dress was white and gold, it would be white and gold in all the pictures, not just that one,' she argued. 'Point made,' I said crossly, because she was right."
The two are very different. "point across" describes physically pointing at something opposite you, probably across a boundary.
"Point" in "to make a point" just means "argument". "to make a point" means to make an argument; to argue a case. "point made" on its own is short for "I consider [your/my] point made" - "I think I/you have proved that I/you am correct.":
"I made my point clear." - I explained my argument in more detail.
"I consider my point made." - I win. (and yes, it is just as rude as that sounds.)
"I consider your point made." - You win. (this is often bad-natured, but doesn't have to be.)
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- Simplified Chinese (China)
Thank you so much!! Just realize my question had a mistake, I wanted to know the difference between "get ones point across" and "point made" (or "make a point)
Now I guess "make a point" sounds more *aggressive?...
Now I guess "make a point" sounds more *aggressive?...
- English (UK)
- Welsh Near fluent
Oh, I see! No, "make a point" on its own is not that aggressive, but it quickly goes in aggressive directions. It's just like "argue" in that way - for example, you can easily make a neutral argument, but then you have terms like "having an argument" and "arguing with" which are hostile.
"to get one's point across" means "to convince with effort" - the person you're explaining to might not understand, or might not want to hear you.
"to make one's point" means "to explain one's argument". It is the less aggressive of the two. If you're saying things like "I'm trying to make my point", you might want to consider "I'm trying to explain myself" as a completely neutral alternative.
"make my point" tends to blame the other person for not understanding, whereas "explain myself" tends to blame you for not explaining correctly.
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- Simplified Chinese (China)
Thanks for coming back and well explained it to me!! That's all I want to know.
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