Aug 3, 2022 · The phrase 'beats me hollow' as a possible precursor to 'beats me' Alternatively, "beats me" in the relevant sense may have emerged as a shortened form of the longer figurative set phrase "beats me hollow." Google Books and Hathi Trust searches turn up a number of instances of "beat[s] me hollow" from the period 1768–1810.

Feb 19, 2018 · Beats me does not necessarily have a bad connotation, or mean that the speaker thinks the question is unimportant or dumb. From Macmillian Dictionary. used for saying that you do not know or understand something ‘Why did he do such a stupid thing?’ ‘It beats me.’ The stupid thing in the example above might be very important, but mystifying.

Feb 11, 2022 · She pipped me to the post. [PHRASE] [British, informal] If someone is pipped at the post or pipped to the post they are just beaten in a competition or in a race to achieve something. [British, informal] To defeat or succeed over someone by a very narrow margin or at the final, crucial moment, especially in a race [Farlex Dictionary of Idioms]

Dec 13, 2017 · My gut response would yes to the first, no to the second. Linguistically, proper English is whatever phrase makes sense and sounds right to a native speaker, so I would say that "So I suppose Editor Bot of Tomorrow has me beaten there" conveys the same meaning, as it is already clear in the first sentence that "beat" is past tense due to the presence of "has."

Oct 5, 2021 · "You beat me to it." is a contextual response that implies agreement with an answer previously stated to an open question or query. An example would be: An audience member asks a 4 person panel a question. They receive an answer from panelist #1. Panelist #2 starts out by exclaiming to panelist #1, "You beat me to it."

May 26, 2018 · I better buy this car before someone beats me to the punch. You could also just use "beat". I wanted to buy the car, but he beat me to it. Your question might be put on hold, or get closed, since you could find the answer to this question from a simple google search. Try doing some basic research before asking questions on this site.

Dec 24, 2012 · When someone beats you to something by 30 seconds, it means they did something 30 seconds sooner than you. As others have already commented, you can think of it as a race, although it usually is not an official, literal race. The race to answer questions on Stack sites also counts as a race :)

Jan 11, 2018 · Tour Start here for a quick overview of the site

Dec 5, 2016 · You sit there and tell me that you have taken me over from Uncle Jimmy like a—like a parcel from a porter, and that you have been saddled with my money and affairs, so perhaps it would be simplest and save trouble if you married me! Me!" she repeated, "who have to keep men off with a stick!" The last sentence was a mistake.

Jul 8, 2011 · "Bob and Alice held their breaths." sounds correct to me. They are each holding their respective breath, so referring to plural 'breaths' actually sounds better than 'breath'. I'd say either is acceptable. –