make it work for you

English translation: solve your problems, enable you to get what you want

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:make it work for you
Selected answer:solve your problems, enable you to get what you want
Entered by: Charles Davis

07:50 Apr 22, 2015
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
English term or phrase: make it work for you
He wonders, given the caliber of the management, just how many of the bottles actually contain what their labels indicate,and how many are diluted or filled with cheaper brands, younger blends, knock-offs, generic vodka:give us a dollar and we'll make it work for you.

A text from Leaving Las Vegas
alice0205 (X)
China
solve your problems, enable you to get what you want
Explanation:
I think the sense of this expression is very general here. "Make it work" just means "make things work", "it" being whatever it is you happen to want. I don't think it refers to making the alcohol work. A few lines later it says "Make a wish, and your army of harlot bottles will respond": the alcohol, they seem to be claiming, will grant your wishes, make your dreams come true.

Of course, this is understood to be ironic: they implicit claim is obviously phony.
Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 16:35
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +3solve your problems, enable you to get what you want
Charles Davis
4 +1make it (the cheap vodka) make you drunk
Yvonne Gallagher
4give you a good return on your (dollar) investment
B D Finch


  

Answers


10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
make it (the cheap vodka) make you drunk


Explanation:
a cheaper way of getting drunk...generic vodka rather than branded stuff

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Note added at 10 mins (2015-04-22 08:00:51 GMT)
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Make it work for=do what you want it to do

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 15:35
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 317

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Eckhard Boehle: Do what you want it to do
1 hr
  -> yes, thanks Eckhard!
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14 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
solve your problems, enable you to get what you want


Explanation:
I think the sense of this expression is very general here. "Make it work" just means "make things work", "it" being whatever it is you happen to want. I don't think it refers to making the alcohol work. A few lines later it says "Make a wish, and your army of harlot bottles will respond": the alcohol, they seem to be claiming, will grant your wishes, make your dreams come true.

Of course, this is understood to be ironic: they implicit claim is obviously phony.

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 16:35
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 236
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Peter Simon
3 mins
  -> Thanks, Peter :-)

agree  Jaber Haghighi
38 mins
  -> Thanks, Jaber :-)

agree  Eckhard Boehle
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Eckhard :-)

neutral  Yvonne Gallagher: I believe he wants to get drunk so yes "allure of alcohol"so if the (cheap) vodka works, all the better//I never said "give us a dollar..." Not about solving problems per se. Just escape into alcoholic haze...
1 hr
  -> I don't think he's bothered about that, and to me it makes no sense to say "give us a dollar and we'll make the alcohol work", implying that it doesn't work unless you pay the dollar. // But the text does say it: we'll make it work if you give us a dollar

neutral  B D Finch: I don't think so: he is contemplating the fact that he is probably being ripped off by the cheating, crooked management.
3 hrs
  -> I don't think that concerns him at all, though it crosses his mind. And this phrase has nothing to do with that anyway: it expresses the (phony) allure of drinking.
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
give you a good return on your (dollar) investment


Explanation:
He is wondering whether the alcohol in the bottles is really what it claims to be or whether it's "diluted or filled with cheaper brands, younger blends, knock-offs, generic vodka". This leads him on to the thought of people having been enticed to profit from investments in such fake or adulterated drink, which he is being cheated for.

B D Finch
France
Local time: 16:35
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 84

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Charles Davis: If anyone adulterated these drinks it was surely the bar management itself. I don't think they were enticed to invest in fake drink. The punter pays a dollar for a glass of possibly dodgy hooch, but this guy doesn't care; he drinks Listerine.
19 mins
  -> The more he is ripped off by those making a profit from counterfeit or watered-down alcohol, the less real alcohol he gets for his own dollar.
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