Pls help to a non-native speaker of English. What does the following mean: "flying in the face of evidence"?

Answer 1

I can understand your frustration! It is almost impossisble to find an English explanation of this idiomatic phrase online, let alone a translation of it into any other language.
If something "flies in the face of evidence", it is illogical or incoherent. More commonly, people say "That flies in the face of reason." They mean that it just doesn't make sense, that reason and logic have proved otherwise. Imagine that Reason or Evidence was a marble statue of a man, and a bat flew in its face. The bat represents the idea that doesn't make sense in the face of an immutable truth. Keep in mind though, that occasionally something flies in the face of reason and prevails! For instance, it flies in the face of reason that it would snow in summer, but that has happened!

Answer 2

Evidence is something that when you look at it, it seems to be clearly true.

So something that flies in the face of evidence is something that contradicts the thing that seems to be true.

For instance, it flies in the face of aerodynamics that a bumblebee can fly. By the laws of aerodynamics a bumblebee should not be able to fly. But a bumblee can fly. So this ability to fly, "flies in the face of the evidence" of aerodynamic principles.

Sometimes people can have all the evidence in the world staring them in the face, and they just refuse to believe it and so act as if it didn't exist. They go off and do something against the evidence. They are "flying in the face of evidence."

Usually when someone flies in he face of evidence things don't work out well for them. It's like refusing to look at reality as it is.

Gravity says if you jump off a cliff you will fall down. The person who insists that if he jumps off a cliff will be able to fly is going to find out quickly that gravity wins. And his flight will come to an abrupt halt.

The expression can be used in a lot ways, but usually legal or scientific, or literary.

Answer 3

It means even though all the evidence shows one thing, a person believes or decides the opposite. For example, if a man is accused of a crime and he is found not guilty, even though there were many witnesses, his fingerprints were all over the place, and maybe he even confessed, if a judge still found him not guilty, that decision would "fly in the face of the evidence."

Answer 4

i'm an complete-fledged member of the Profuy Fan club. Wow, what a options! I examine and chuckled all by skill of "The Chaos." Now i'm gonna ought to placed it someplace I gained't lose it. English borrows from such an rather good type of languages that orthography is hard. studying the sounds takes practice. See in case you'll get close-captioned videos or television shows- those for deaf human beings- because then you definately'll see the words typed even as the actors communicate the strains. discover shows or videos you want, so the adventure will be relaxing, no longer an additional effective dreary workout in language. community suprasegmentals make studying strings confusing. Canadian English-audio gadget have a particular cadence that's diverse from midwestern human beings. And Australians have diverse factors of articulation. get at the same time: In Australia, "mate" sounds like "mite" to an American. 3 elements: Orthography, as profuy spoke of. you may conquer this with practice. study immediately ahead homonyms. Borrowing: you won't be able to have champagne such as your taco as you force your Chevrolet. back, time and practice will ameliorate this. community pronunciation: i'd meet a mite in my moat. take heed to community differences, possibly with Australian videos like "Strictly Ballroom" and American classics like "Casablanca" or "The Wizard of oz.." good on ya!

Answer 5

It means pursuing a certain course of action despite overwhelming odds or taking a certain position in an argument, notwithstanding evidence to the contrary.

Answer 6

It means to ignore something (or go ahead with a way of thinking) despite evidence to the contrary.

Answer 7

It means whoever is saying it wants to murder you.

Answer 8

it means that the proof is right in front of you...