Reader question: In this sentence - Goodfellas was in a different league, all-time classic - what does “different league” mean? My comments: It means that Goodfellas, the gangster movie featuring Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci et al, is a much better movie than others in the save genre, i.e. other gangster movies. In other words, it’s the best. It’s way better than average. It’s incomparable. Or, to use another similar phrase, it’s not in the same league (as others). It’s in a class of its own. Or, as well described in the example from the top, it’s an all-time classic. That means when most movies are forgotten after you come out of the cinema and not mentioned or seen again, this movie is one for the ages. Generation after generation, people will keep watching it. Alright, let’s get back to the phrase “different league”. A league, you see, can be any group of people with common goals, aims, or political beliefs. For example, I was once upon a time – a long time ago to be sure – a member of the Chinese Communist Youth League. And that means... Well, that really is something difficult to explain ^_^. It’s a long story and at any rate by and large of no interest to most of my readers who are born in the 1980s or later and so I’ll stick with the original question of “different league” – a much easier one to tackle. |