Philosophy: for those who “see right through it”

Self-tutoring about expressions: the tutor reflects about an old one, with a humorous story.

I recall, in grade five, learning about numbers in other bases. The teacher told me about one of her favourite students from years past.

“He had trouble, at first, with bases,” she observed, “but later, he could see right through it.”

That was the first time I heard the expression “see right through it.” I knew what it must mean, but I didn’t find it very descriptive, and still don’t. Perhaps I’m alone; everyone else seems to say it and mean it.

Yet, one time, the expression was used correctly, from my point of view. It was an interesting situation: my mother, father, sister and I were all together touring an office building. We were getting along, all of us, in a playful, joking mood. We came before an inside window which bore a list of responsibles, their names and duties under their portraits.

Behold: one portrait was missing, so at that point, you could “see right through” the window into the room beyond. My father explained it was because the person in that position was being changed: the old portrait had been removed, and the new one was awaited.

My mother pointed out that, compared to the others, that person was nondescript; my father observed you could “see right through him.” It was a great moment: the expression was definitive, for its one and only time in my life.