Learn English – Meaning of “doesn’t even begin to cover it”

idiomsmeaning

I saw the movie Ice Age 4, in which there was the quote "Okay doesn't even begin to cover it". After searching on the internet, I couldn't find the meaning of the sentence at all. Is that "Begin to cover" an idiom? What's the meaning of the sentence?

Best Answer

Here, "Okay doesn't even begin to cover it" means "The word okay is so inadequate that it does not even have the slightest chance of describing [topic]."

From Oxford Dictionaries Online:

begin

  1. [no object with negative] informal Not have any chance or likelihood of doing a specified thing

cover

  1. Deal with (a subject) by describing or analyzing its most important aspects or events

More generally, "doesn't even begin to..." is used when you want say that something is extremely lacking; that it does not have any chance of accomplishing the goal that it intends to. Some examples of proper ways to use "doesn't even begin to...", from the above source:

Indeed, even today, one cannot begin to comprehend the appalling fate suffered by these two young girls.

He concluded by saying that we couldn't even begin to comprehend what one day in his shoes would be like.

Clearly this too is an honour that most of you have little chance of even beginning to aspire to.

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