to read between the lines
24
4.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
leer entre líneas
- It was clear from her tone that I needed to read between the lines to understand her true feelings.
That's not, you know, they they could read between the lines and see that Hobbes is really not their ally.
- That's not, you know, they they could read between the lines and see that Hobbes is really not their ally.
- Because your brains work that way in the sense that you you can read between the lines, you you can pick up on the details.
- We live a life of trying to read between the lines of what things this person is saying are true and which things are false.
- And that may be true, but you know, when you read between the lines there, there could be prior knowledge that somebody was going to buy Activision.
- You can see reading between the lines that he sees himself as the successor to the great czars of of Russia.
- And I, I, I sobbed my eyes out at the end because I think reading between the lines is my own interpretation of it.
- But it's like you can read between the lines like he he DM and the dude on the on the on the Samsung.
- And he didn't say it, but we kind of you can read between the lines and say that, you know, social trends and social news, AKA Wall Street bets.
- So he's he's marking here, you got to read between the lines a little bit that something different is happening in the flattery that is happening.
Examples
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We always assume guys will read our minds or read between the lines, but they never will!
Blog text (9) -
At least that's what I get from reading between the lines of this article.
Blog text (18) -
But, you have to read between the lines.
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You have to read between the lines with this stuff.
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You gotta read between the lines.
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I can read between the lines.
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I find it easy to "read between the lines" when someone is talking to me.
Academic text (2018) -
Whatever is happening in the market, we'll help you read between the lines.
Blog text (9) -
But what's there tells a story if you read between the lines.
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When she wrote back, she seemed hopeful, but Judd could read between the lines; Northside Detention Center was an awful place.
Fiction book (2000)
Synonyms
142
3.9
To notice something that is not obvious
4
4.5
To understand the main idea without knowing every detail
How Implicit
Surface Forms
Morphology
read + between + the + lines
The components 'read' + 'between' + 'lines' yield a coherent literal image (reading what is between written lines) that can lead learners toward the idea of inferring unstated meaning, but the idiomatic, pragmatic sense (detecting implication rather than literal text) is a non-literal extension. Many languages use a similar metaphor (e.g. Spanish/French equivalents), which aids comprehension, but the specific inferential meaning is not fully predictable without some exposure.
Etymology
The idiom read between the lines comes from the picture of someone looking at a page and trying to see a hidden idea in the empty space between the lines as they read. So it means 'to understand what is not said'.