Learn English – What does “something are down” mean
meaning
I saw this picture on the Net…
What does "The computers are down" mean? Thanks.
Best Answer
Literally, "computers are down" means that those computers are off-line, usually because of some kinds of problems (such as power failure, software failure, operating system crash, etc.).
I don't know if there are any deeper meaning. But it seems to me that the comic hints that people nowadays rely too much on computers. Even a guru still needs computers to provide a good answer. (In this case, "the meaning of life".)
PS. This reminds me of a novel by Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In order to get "the answer to life, the universe, and everything", a supreme being had to create a computer to provide such an answer. After a long time past, the computer gave the answer, 42. (The computer that was created in the story was actually our Earth, including us human beings.)
"Whole" here is used literally: the entire thing, the undivided unit. The "whole picture" means "everything you can see".
I presume the characters here are women. One has bought a new bag, and she is saying that carrying this bag will make her look more attractive to men, even though a man would be unlikely to say, "wow, that's a very pretty bag". Men "respond to the whole picture, even if they don't know why". That is, a man will see a woman with all the facets that go into her appearance -- her shape, her hair style, her clothes, and, yes, her bag -- and make a judgment about how pretty she is, without thinking of the individual components.
One could debate if that's true, but this is a forum about grammar and not dating advice.
I understand it to mean "written down". You would more often see something like "I penned down a quick note". In the context of destiny writing something down for you, it seems a bit odd to me, but I guess the intention was poetic.
Best Answer
Literally, "computers are down" means that those computers are off-line, usually because of some kinds of problems (such as power failure, software failure, operating system crash, etc.).
I don't know if there are any deeper meaning. But it seems to me that the comic hints that people nowadays rely too much on computers. Even a guru still needs computers to provide a good answer. (In this case, "the meaning of life".)
PS. This reminds me of a novel by Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In order to get "the answer to life, the universe, and everything", a supreme being had to create a computer to provide such an answer. After a long time past, the computer gave the answer, 42. (The computer that was created in the story was actually our Earth, including us human beings.)