What does "sweeping" mean in "sweeping beach"?

[AndersUlv]

Hey

Could someone enlighten me as to what a "sweeping beach" is?

Is it a wide beach or a curvy beach or a wide and curvy beach? Or just a beach that looks really good maybe?

 

[teechar]

[STRIKE]Hey
[/STRIKE] Hello/Hi,

Hello AndersUlv, and welcome to the forum.

Could someone enlighten me as to what a "sweeping beach" is?
Is it a wide beach or a curvy beach or a wide and curvy beach, or just a beach that looks really good maybe?

It could be any or a combination (or none) of the above! Can you describe the context, or provide a link to where you found that text please?
Note also that I have moved your thread to the Ask a Teacher forum, because "sweeping beach" is not an idiom.

 

[emsr2d2]

Scroll down to "Sweeping - adjective" on this page. Definitions 1a and 1b fit perfectly.

 

[teechar]

fit perfectly.

They may not. I'd still like to see the original sentence.

 

[AndersUlv]

Hello, and thank you for your replies so far. I found the expression in this sentence:

"The Kvarner Gulf has varied shores of sweeping beaches, rocky headlands, secret coves and picturesque islands."

I often translate travel texts, so I run into the expression a lot. I did check the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, but it gives me the impression that it can mean either curving or wide or both at the same time...

 

[teechar]

curving or wide or both at the same time...

I would go for "wide" or "curving and wide". In future, please try to give us the complete sentence right from the start, and cite the source if you can.

 

[emsr2d2]

Both definitions 1a and 1b from that page still fit perfectly for me. The phrase "sweeping beach" is pretty common in BrE and native speakers understand it to be curved in form (definition 1b) and moving in a wide curve (definition 1a).

 

[AndersUlv]

Thank you very much for your replies

 

[teechar]

@emsr2d2: so are you saying that you need a combination of both 1a and 1b to understand the meaning of "sweeping" intended here?

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you very much for your replies​. [STRIKE][/STRIKE]

Please note that there is no need to write a new post to say "Thank you" to anyone. Clicking the "Thank" button in the bottom left-hand corner of any useful post suffices (as you have already done).

In addition, don't forget that every sentence must end with one appropriate punctuation mark, not an emoticon. Don't try to make your own emoticons. If you want to use one, click on the icon and choose the appropriate one.

 

[AndersUlv]

Please note that there is no need to write a new post to say "Thank you" to anyone. Clicking the "Thank" button in the bottom left-hand corner of any useful post suffices (as you have already done).

In addition, don't forget that every sentence must end with one appropriate punctuation mark, not an emoticon. Don't try to make your own emoticons. If you want to use one, click on the icon and choose the appropriate one.

Aren't you afraid of damaging people's self-esteem by giving them so many orders?

 

[emsr2d2]

Aren't you afraid of damaging people's self-esteem by giving them so many orders?

Not remotely, no. I'm a teacher and one of my particular areas of interest is punctuation. If learners are here to learn, they will take everything they are told by teachers in the spirit in which it's intended - help.

 

[AndersUlv]

OK, but how does it help me that I am not allowed to use my own emoticons?

I think it would have been correct to use a dash instead of a hyphen in that last sentence of yours, by the way. But it doesn't really matter. I understood you perfectly.

I read Your Erroneous Zones by Wayne Dyer, and I am not sure that orders and too many rules are a good thing. I think low self-esteem is a bigger problem in the world than grammar mistakes that don't really change the meaning of a sentence.

 

[Rover_KE]

You should have seen some of the bizarre home-made emoticons we used to get before we banned them, as they were detracting from the tone of the forum and taking up too much of the moderators' time deleting them.

New members of the forum are invited to comply with our rules, posting guidelines and other conventions which have been evolving for some 15 years. Many of those who don't like the way we operate often decide to join one or more of the other similar forums on the internet which may be more to their liking.

 

[AndersUlv]

You should have seen some of the bizarre home-made emoticons we used to get before we banned them, as they were detracting from the tone of the forum and taking up too much of the moderators' time deleting them.

New members of the forum are invited to comply with our rules, posting guidelines and other conventions which have been evolving for some 15 years. Many of those who don't like the way we operate often decide to join one or more of the other similar forums on the internet which may be more to their liking.

OK, I wasn't aware of that. I did read the forum rules, but I don't remember anything about emoticons.

I do think that a simple explanation is really a good thing instead of orders, which I actually think are a bit rude. I use the type of emoticons I have been using here in my business correspondence and never had any complaints.

Has any official authority like Oxford made rules about emoticons not being allowed to be used as full stops? The best article that appeared in my quick Google search was this on: http://mentalfloss.com/article/65394/how-do-you-punctuate-around-emoticons-and-emoji

I will use punctuation and emojis the way you prefer when/if I post here in the future.