Your choice was right!
Definition:
b) to understand someone or something
German translation:
make heads or tails of = aus etwas klug werden zu können
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GOOGLE INDEX
make heads or tails of: approximately 800,000 Google hits
Sample text:
The problem is that it is harder and harder to MAKE HEADS OR TAILS of the eight reform packages.
(BBC News)
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Even after a heavy investment of time and resources, marketers can't MAKE HEADS OR TAILS of the results of a market segmentation exercise when it comes to selecting which groups of buyers to prioritize or, very importantly, figuring out how to market to them.
(www.prweb.com)
Did you know?
make heads or tails of
idiom
- to be able to understand something
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
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At the start of a football game when the officials stand at centre of the pitch with the captains of both teams, they are not talking about the weather or their favourite pub. They are deciding which team gets possession of the ball first and which goals will be defended. Fairness rules here.
The head official flips a coin in the air and asks the home team's captain to say either "heads" or "tails." This equates to the two sides of the coin, heads being the side of the coin with a person on it and tails the other. If the captain guesses the correct side of the coin when it lands on the ground, then he can either decide to have first possession or select the goal to be defended.
This heads or tails game, which has been around as long anyone can remember, is the origin of the expression to "make heads or tails of." It is more often than not used in the negative, when someone cannot understand something: "I can't make heads or tails of this report." It is also spoken and written as "make heads NOR tails of."
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"I can't make heads or tails of the signature on this document."
Thanks to Conny for suggesting today's word!
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And now...
Today's Learning Tip (15):
USE A NATIVE SPEAKER
Engage English native speakers in conversation about the new word. Ask them to pronounce it and to give you a definition or synonym. Ask them to create a sentence with the word in it.
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