Kaverznyi vopros: $64,000

[Timothy Sergay]

Oops! It's of course sixty-four THOUSAND dollar question (thank you,  
Alina). Apresyan had it wrong, too, and I copied it without  
reflecting on it. The title of a TV game show in which this amount  
was the stake, I believe. The sense is, though, a bit deflected from  
what it seems you're after. "That's the $64,000 question" means  
"that's the issue on which everything hinges [depends]," in other  
words, if we only knew the answer to THAT question, everything else  
would be clear [simple to accomplish].

On Apr 13, 2006, at 10:17 AM, Timothy Sergay wrote:

> A "trick question" can be a deliberate trap ("proval'nyi vopros,"  
> "vopros na zasypku"), but "tricky question" is different, and might  
> help.  Apresyan also lists "sinuous question" (maybe I just haven't  
> encountered this before) and also "sixty-four dollar question."
>
> Tim
>
> On Apr 13, 2006, at 9:13 AM, Glushchenko, Alexei A. wrote:
>
>>> But trick questions - typically on a test or exam - mean that
>>> they lead not where you think they lead. We tried it - it is
>>> not the same. Any other suggestions?
>> ===
>> Sinuous questions?
>>
>> Alexei Glushchenko
>>
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