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Under the glass

Posted by Pdianek on November 29, 2003

In Reply to: Under the glass posted by MichaelFr on November 29, 2003

: Hi ! (bonjour !) the French guy again !

: I found this phrase in a novel : "that'd be OK most days but on this one you just said it yourself, we're under the glass."

: The context is two detectives talking about their ongoing inquiry, a hot topic for broadcasters and the population, as a celebrity in town has been slain. They have like a 48 hours deadline to find the murderer, and cannot consider being distracted in any way. "this one" in the text is meant for "this case".

: What is the meaning of "we're under the glass" ?

: Thanks, have a nice day.

Could mean they feel as if they're under a magnifying glass (this sounds most likely) -- that everyone else (including their bosses) is closely examining what they do/say, thus they must solve the case. In addition, anything under a magnifying glass is subject to heat, as light is focused upon it. Remember when as a child you made burned holes in dry leaves by putting them "under the glass"? So the "heat" is the pressure they feel.

They could also be referring to themselves as resting on a slide under a microscope "glass" -- same kind of implication, that they're under scrutiny and pressure.

Less likely: that they're under the type of glass dome used to protect and ripen fruit, at home.

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