"please explain" meaning in English

See please explain in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: en-au-please explain.ogg [Australia] Forms: please explains [plural]
Etymology: Likely originated from a 1996 interview with Australian politician Pauline Hanson, in which she replied with the phrase to a question including the word "xenophobic". Head templates: {{en-noun}} please explain (plural please explains)
  1. (Australia, colloquial) A request for explanation or clarification on an issue. Tags: Australia, colloquial
    Sense id: en-please_explain-en-noun-OaPv63Q1 Categories (other): Australian English

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for please explain meaning in English (1.8kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "Likely originated from a 1996 interview with Australian politician Pauline Hanson, in which she replied with the phrase to a question including the word \"xenophobic\".",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "please explains",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "please explain (plural please explains)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Australian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "2006 May 24, “QRU boss issued with please explain”, in ABC News, retrieved 2018-08-03:",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "text": "2015 August 30, “Eade to issue AFL 'please explain'”, in SBS News, retrieved 2018-08-03:",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "text": "2018 \"TRIALLED RULE CHANGES WOULD FLY IN THE FACE OF AFL’S MELBOURNE TANKING INVESTIGATION: GREEN\" 1116 SEN, 25 July 2018. Accessed 3 August 2018.\n\"If the AFL do decide to trial new rule changes this season, Green believes his former club should present the competition’s hierarchy with a please explain, as they’re seemingly bringing the game into disrepute in a similar way they deemed Melbourne to have done so.\""
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A request for explanation or clarification on an issue."
      ],
      "id": "en-please_explain-en-noun-OaPv63Q1",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Australia, colloquial) A request for explanation or clarification on an issue."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "colloquial"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-please explain.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/6b/En-au-please_explain.ogg/En-au-please_explain.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/En-au-please_explain.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "please explain"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "Likely originated from a 1996 interview with Australian politician Pauline Hanson, in which she replied with the phrase to a question including the word \"xenophobic\".",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "please explains",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "please explain (plural please explains)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Australian English",
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with audio links"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "2006 May 24, “QRU boss issued with please explain”, in ABC News, retrieved 2018-08-03:",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "text": "2015 August 30, “Eade to issue AFL 'please explain'”, in SBS News, retrieved 2018-08-03:",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "text": "2018 \"TRIALLED RULE CHANGES WOULD FLY IN THE FACE OF AFL’S MELBOURNE TANKING INVESTIGATION: GREEN\" 1116 SEN, 25 July 2018. Accessed 3 August 2018.\n\"If the AFL do decide to trial new rule changes this season, Green believes his former club should present the competition’s hierarchy with a please explain, as they’re seemingly bringing the game into disrepute in a similar way they deemed Melbourne to have done so.\""
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A request for explanation or clarification on an issue."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Australia, colloquial) A request for explanation or clarification on an issue."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "colloquial"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-please explain.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/6b/En-au-please_explain.ogg/En-au-please_explain.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/En-au-please_explain.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "please explain"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-17 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-01 using wiktextract (0b52755 and 5cb0836). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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