What is the meaning of “pick up” in this sentence?What is the Meaning of This SentenceDo the given...

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What is the meaning of “pick up” in this sentence?


What is the Meaning of This SentenceDo the given sentences suggest a hypothetical possibility?What does the second “it” refer to in this sentence?“That's as much as we ever really saw of them at the time”. What does this sentence mean?Not understood meaning of sentencePick someone upWhat is the meaning of 'out of'?How to use “pick up”Meaning of “at the last hour” in this contextI don't get the meaning of this sentence













3
















We had thought the turnout for these events would pick up, but it's really lagged behind our estimates.




Does this sentence equal to:




We had thought the turnout for these events would increase, but it's really lagged behind our estimates.




Or:




We had thought the turnout for these events would meet our expectations, but it's really lagged behind our estimates.




Does pick up, in this sentence, equal to increase or to meet the expectations?










share|improve this question


















  • 1





    Increase, and possibly with the meaning of "from a badly low level".

    – Michael Harvey
    13 hours ago
















3
















We had thought the turnout for these events would pick up, but it's really lagged behind our estimates.




Does this sentence equal to:




We had thought the turnout for these events would increase, but it's really lagged behind our estimates.




Or:




We had thought the turnout for these events would meet our expectations, but it's really lagged behind our estimates.




Does pick up, in this sentence, equal to increase or to meet the expectations?










share|improve this question


















  • 1





    Increase, and possibly with the meaning of "from a badly low level".

    – Michael Harvey
    13 hours ago














3












3








3


1







We had thought the turnout for these events would pick up, but it's really lagged behind our estimates.




Does this sentence equal to:




We had thought the turnout for these events would increase, but it's really lagged behind our estimates.




Or:




We had thought the turnout for these events would meet our expectations, but it's really lagged behind our estimates.




Does pick up, in this sentence, equal to increase or to meet the expectations?










share|improve this question















We had thought the turnout for these events would pick up, but it's really lagged behind our estimates.




Does this sentence equal to:




We had thought the turnout for these events would increase, but it's really lagged behind our estimates.




Or:




We had thought the turnout for these events would meet our expectations, but it's really lagged behind our estimates.




Does pick up, in this sentence, equal to increase or to meet the expectations?







phrase-meaning sentence-meaning phrase-usage






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked 13 hours ago









Ally FeAlly Fe

798




798








  • 1





    Increase, and possibly with the meaning of "from a badly low level".

    – Michael Harvey
    13 hours ago














  • 1





    Increase, and possibly with the meaning of "from a badly low level".

    – Michael Harvey
    13 hours ago








1




1





Increase, and possibly with the meaning of "from a badly low level".

– Michael Harvey
13 hours ago





Increase, and possibly with the meaning of "from a badly low level".

– Michael Harvey
13 hours ago










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















6














It means increase, in the context of a quantity, but specifically to increase from a disappointingly low level, or surprisingly low level, or inconveniently low level.



It's used when things are/were lower than you want/wanted them to be, basically.



The "lagged behind our estimates" bit refers to the fact they thought it would increase, but it didn't.



In general, it can mean to improve, though only in cases where any quantity involved is going up. If something improves by going down (such as a crime rate), you wouldn't use it. But someone's health can pick up as well.



You may also come across it meaning something increasing even when that is a bad thing, but that's far more unusual. I might even go as far as to call it exceptional, but I have seen it.






share|improve this answer


























  • The general meaning of "to pick up" is "to improve," or "to become better," but in the context of the OP's example "improve" obviously has the same meaning as "increase".

    – alephzero
    10 hours ago











  • @alephzero: fair point. I'll clarify/generalise.

    – SamBC
    9 hours ago






  • 4





    I'd say that in my experience, at least, something "picking up" implies an accelerating improvement. It doesn't necessarily mean that, but it gives me that impression.

    – Hearth
    7 hours ago











Your Answer








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1 Answer
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active

oldest

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1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









6














It means increase, in the context of a quantity, but specifically to increase from a disappointingly low level, or surprisingly low level, or inconveniently low level.



It's used when things are/were lower than you want/wanted them to be, basically.



The "lagged behind our estimates" bit refers to the fact they thought it would increase, but it didn't.



In general, it can mean to improve, though only in cases where any quantity involved is going up. If something improves by going down (such as a crime rate), you wouldn't use it. But someone's health can pick up as well.



You may also come across it meaning something increasing even when that is a bad thing, but that's far more unusual. I might even go as far as to call it exceptional, but I have seen it.






share|improve this answer


























  • The general meaning of "to pick up" is "to improve," or "to become better," but in the context of the OP's example "improve" obviously has the same meaning as "increase".

    – alephzero
    10 hours ago











  • @alephzero: fair point. I'll clarify/generalise.

    – SamBC
    9 hours ago






  • 4





    I'd say that in my experience, at least, something "picking up" implies an accelerating improvement. It doesn't necessarily mean that, but it gives me that impression.

    – Hearth
    7 hours ago
















6














It means increase, in the context of a quantity, but specifically to increase from a disappointingly low level, or surprisingly low level, or inconveniently low level.



It's used when things are/were lower than you want/wanted them to be, basically.



The "lagged behind our estimates" bit refers to the fact they thought it would increase, but it didn't.



In general, it can mean to improve, though only in cases where any quantity involved is going up. If something improves by going down (such as a crime rate), you wouldn't use it. But someone's health can pick up as well.



You may also come across it meaning something increasing even when that is a bad thing, but that's far more unusual. I might even go as far as to call it exceptional, but I have seen it.






share|improve this answer


























  • The general meaning of "to pick up" is "to improve," or "to become better," but in the context of the OP's example "improve" obviously has the same meaning as "increase".

    – alephzero
    10 hours ago











  • @alephzero: fair point. I'll clarify/generalise.

    – SamBC
    9 hours ago






  • 4





    I'd say that in my experience, at least, something "picking up" implies an accelerating improvement. It doesn't necessarily mean that, but it gives me that impression.

    – Hearth
    7 hours ago














6












6








6







It means increase, in the context of a quantity, but specifically to increase from a disappointingly low level, or surprisingly low level, or inconveniently low level.



It's used when things are/were lower than you want/wanted them to be, basically.



The "lagged behind our estimates" bit refers to the fact they thought it would increase, but it didn't.



In general, it can mean to improve, though only in cases where any quantity involved is going up. If something improves by going down (such as a crime rate), you wouldn't use it. But someone's health can pick up as well.



You may also come across it meaning something increasing even when that is a bad thing, but that's far more unusual. I might even go as far as to call it exceptional, but I have seen it.






share|improve this answer















It means increase, in the context of a quantity, but specifically to increase from a disappointingly low level, or surprisingly low level, or inconveniently low level.



It's used when things are/were lower than you want/wanted them to be, basically.



The "lagged behind our estimates" bit refers to the fact they thought it would increase, but it didn't.



In general, it can mean to improve, though only in cases where any quantity involved is going up. If something improves by going down (such as a crime rate), you wouldn't use it. But someone's health can pick up as well.



You may also come across it meaning something increasing even when that is a bad thing, but that's far more unusual. I might even go as far as to call it exceptional, but I have seen it.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 9 hours ago

























answered 12 hours ago









SamBCSamBC

8,4891233




8,4891233













  • The general meaning of "to pick up" is "to improve," or "to become better," but in the context of the OP's example "improve" obviously has the same meaning as "increase".

    – alephzero
    10 hours ago











  • @alephzero: fair point. I'll clarify/generalise.

    – SamBC
    9 hours ago






  • 4





    I'd say that in my experience, at least, something "picking up" implies an accelerating improvement. It doesn't necessarily mean that, but it gives me that impression.

    – Hearth
    7 hours ago



















  • The general meaning of "to pick up" is "to improve," or "to become better," but in the context of the OP's example "improve" obviously has the same meaning as "increase".

    – alephzero
    10 hours ago











  • @alephzero: fair point. I'll clarify/generalise.

    – SamBC
    9 hours ago






  • 4





    I'd say that in my experience, at least, something "picking up" implies an accelerating improvement. It doesn't necessarily mean that, but it gives me that impression.

    – Hearth
    7 hours ago

















The general meaning of "to pick up" is "to improve," or "to become better," but in the context of the OP's example "improve" obviously has the same meaning as "increase".

– alephzero
10 hours ago





The general meaning of "to pick up" is "to improve," or "to become better," but in the context of the OP's example "improve" obviously has the same meaning as "increase".

– alephzero
10 hours ago













@alephzero: fair point. I'll clarify/generalise.

– SamBC
9 hours ago





@alephzero: fair point. I'll clarify/generalise.

– SamBC
9 hours ago




4




4





I'd say that in my experience, at least, something "picking up" implies an accelerating improvement. It doesn't necessarily mean that, but it gives me that impression.

– Hearth
7 hours ago





I'd say that in my experience, at least, something "picking up" implies an accelerating improvement. It doesn't necessarily mean that, but it gives me that impression.

– Hearth
7 hours ago


















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