Question - Granted

This is a stupid question but here goes, I know the meaning of granted (obvious) but when it's said "never take things for granted" it confuses me, what do they mean?

MITM_Fan said:

This is a stupid question but here goes, I know the meaning of granted (obvious) but when it's said "never take things for granted" it confuses me, what do they mean?

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Good question! Well, it's close enough to the 'sum of the parts' so to speak to work out the meaning. When you grant someone something, you allow someone to have it. To (mis)take for can mean something like to mistakenly believe to be , to consider: "I took him for a doctor, but he was just the assistant".

Taken together, to take something/someone for granted, is 'to mistakenly believe that someone gave you something without asking anything in return', in other words, 'thinking you can benefit without being grateful'. By extension, it can also mean 'believe something is 'given' (in other words 'true') without giving it proper attention', as in 'We take it for granted that the economy will keep growing'.

Rich

P.S. I often have trouble using or interpreting expressions in context like 'begging the question', 'the bottom line is', 'the buck stops here', 'it's an oxymoron'.

Thanks, Richard!