EyeSeeYou  +  780468 Mon, 15 Jun 09 08:53 PM "They know they can hold their audience only so long."   What's its meaning? I tried looking it up in the dictionary but had no luck. I interpreted it as they cannot hold their audience for so long. EyeSeeYou Joined on Tue, Dec 21 2004 Full Member 212

	Grammar Geek  +  780489 Mon, 15 Jun 09 09:07 PM If you can do something for "only so long" you are emphasizing that it is for a limited duration.   In this case, they can keep the audience entertained for a certain amount of time - it's not defined, but it won't go on forever. Eventually the audience will get restless or want to see something different happen.   I can hold this heavy box for only so long before I must put it down. I can keep him entertained for only so long before he's going to wonder where you are and why you weren't here for your appointment with him.   I notice I use it with "for." Now I wonder if that's some sort of barbaric use, in the same category of "get down off of the bus." To me, it just sounds better with the "for."   Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,652 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!

	CalifJim  +  780493 Mon, 15 Jun 09 09:14 PM only so long is an idiom meaning "not forever", "for only a limited amount of time".  That is, there is a limit to the amount of time that the situation mentioned in the main clause can continue.  In this case, "they" cannot keep their audience entertained and interested forever.  Sooner or later, they will fail.  The audience will get restless and stop paying attention, perhaps. Compare: The patch you put on that pipe will last only so long, and then it will start to leak, and you'll have to patch it again. My father could sit still only so long, and then he had to get up and move, or go for a walk.  Maybe he had "restless leg syndrome". You can separate only from so long: You only have your children so long, and then they grow up and move away from home. CJ Whoops!  You weren't there, GG, when I started this post.  Oh, well, basically the same thing in slightly different words.  That will give emphasis to the correctness of the answers.  CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,389 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Clauses, Idioms, Writing

	Grammar Geek  +  781553 Tue, 16 Jun 09 02:31 PM But am I a barbarian for wanting to use "for" with it?   Grammar Geek