if worn out ?
With a three-hour running time and lavish special effects, King Kong left some moviegoers satisfied - if worn out.
The sentence is from a news titled "Some fans exhausted by manic 'Kong'"
What I don't understand is, what the hell does 'if worn out' mean?
Does it have something to do with the whole sentence?
I think is means that some moviegoers were tired (worn out) from sitting there and watching the movie for 3 hours.
satisfied - if worn out = worn out, yet satisfied
If you "wear something out" (like clothes) then it's old, overused, faded, etc.
So if someone is "worn out" they're tired/exhausted.
Thank you Kirk
but, what confuses me is ' if '.
It seems a bit off of its normal use, because to me, ' if ' is 'assuming'.
So, ' if they're worn out, they are satisfied' sounds like nonsense.
What would you say the meaning of 'if ' in this case ?
I think that "if" means "though/although" in this case.
Thank you very much.
I couldn't get convinced since my dictionary didn't carry the meaning.
A J
Maybe you need a more advanced dictionary.
Here's one of the definitions of the word "if" from Dictionary.com:
2. Although possibly; even though: It is a handsome if useless trinket.
------------------------------------------
And the following is from LDOCE Online:
13 used when adding one criticism of a person or thing that you generally like:
The eldest son was highly intelligent, if somewhat lazy.
Lunch was a grand if rather noisy affair.
Basically, that sentence could be rewritten as, "King Kong left some moviegoers satisfied, but worn out." or "King Kong left some moviegoers satisfied, even though they were worn out."
The original way was most likely used because headlines generally try to be as short and concise as possible. Also, it's less wordy and 'stuffy' than the other possibilities.