Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Idioms 285. The idiom today is to be at liberty
to do something. Okay. Let's take a look at the note here. If someone says that he
or she is at liberty to do something, it means that they have the right or
permission to do a particular thing or they've been given the permission to do
a particular thing. So they are at liberty to do it. It is used in a formal
sense and it's probably more often heard in the negative than in the positive. So
what does that mean ? You're a little more likely to hear somebody says that they
are not at the Liberty to do something than they would say I am at the Liberty
to do something. Okay. Let's continue. The origin comes from the
Latin word" Libertatem ' which meant civil or political freedom and free from
restraint. So free from limits. Free from restraint. It was passed down to English
from the French word " Liberte " Okay. Meaning freedom or free will. Okay. So it
worked its way into English this way and we got four, four examples here today.
Here's the first one. Now the first one is not a negative. Your offer is below
the amount I am at liberty to accept. I will discuss your offer with the boss
and get back to you. So she's saying that it's below the offer she's at Liberty. So
the boss probably gave her a certain amount, a bottom line and he offered
below that. She doesn't want to say "no. " right now. She's just saying that she's
not at liberty to accept this number. That, that's.... that is that low. She'll have
to check with her boss first and then let her know if it's still okay or not.
All right. Number two here. I am not at liberty. So it's a negative one. I'm not
at liberty to discuss the details of this case. This
matter is presently under investigation. Yes. So you might have a ... sometimes we say a
gag order or something. You're, you're not legally allowed to talk about this
because the investigation is going on. They don't want you revealing this
information. All right. Number three here. There was a time anyone was at liberty.
So anybody could have done this freely. To fish in that lake. Now because of an
endangered species, it is against the law. So maybe they passed the law. Maybe
there's like one fish or one little microorganism or something in that lake
that they didn't like and they're afraid if you fish you might kill it off . So
they say no more fishing in that Lake. So you're no longer at liberty to do that.
Okay. And number four here. I am not at liberty to discuss confidential matters
at my former employer or you know at his last job. There was a clause in my
contract that I am not legally allowed to reveal that information. So he's not
at liberty to say. So he doesn't have the freedom he has restraints. He cannot say
that. He cannot give that information. So he is not at liberty to do that. Okay. I
hope you got it. I hope it was clear. I hope it was informative. Thank you for your time.
Bye-bye.