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I can't understand the sentence "Right to the point on both counts." It comes from a comment by user Eric in SO:

Right to the point on both counts. Thanks. I didn't like it either, but was looking for ammo to defend my point. Since one rarely types JS code interactively, there isn't much benefit to the short form. – Eric

I am not a native English speaker, so I have difficulty understanding the sentence above. I have referred to some dictionaries and translator, but I still don't know how to understand it? So I want to know its meaning in simple words.

I have known that the meaning of "on both counts" is "for both issues", but I can't understand "Right to the point".

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    "Right to the point" = "Addressed directly/correctly". "On both counts" = "for both issues". Presumably, someone was talking about 2 things, and they got to the gist of both.
    – Lawrence
    Commented Jun 4, 2017 at 16:14
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    I think it's a clumsy/non-idiomatic usage, not least because of the semantic confusion which ensues if you stop to consider possible differences between the two referents the point and my point. I suggest something like Exactly right on both counts would be less "awkward". Commented Jun 4, 2017 at 16:38
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    I read this as saying, “Thanks. The information you’ve provided gets right to the point (of the argument being made) on both counts. (There were apparently two things being alleged)
    – Jim
    Commented Jun 4, 2017 at 18:17
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    @FumbleFingers - Seems reasonably idiomatic to me. It is true that the idiom is somewhat ambiguous as to whether the statement is considered correct, or is merely addressing the issues, but I think that there are a few other rare cases in English where ambiguity can occur, and somehow we manage to live through it.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Jun 5, 2017 at 0:35
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    @Hot Licks: I think normally to the point means [highly] relevant, and it usually occurs in imperative contexts such as Please stick to the point (don't digress). Clearly OP's cite is extending this to imply correct as well as relevant - which I might find more acceptable in other contexts, but in this specific one I think the disjunct between to the point and later defend my point is almost a kind of "zeugma". It's English, but not particularly good English. Commented Jun 5, 2017 at 11:58

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From gymglish:

to get straight (or 'right') to the point: to address the main subject directly, without deviation

You'll most often see the phrase to describe someone who doesn't add a lot of extra commentary or rigamarole.

In the context of a StackOverflow answer, it means the poster answered the question quickly and without additional commentary or detail.


From Longman:

on all/several/both counts: in every way, in several ways etc

This means that the commenter thought the answer was short and direct for both relevant points.

Having read the linked StackOverflow answer, I'm not entirely sure where "both" is coming from since I don't see two specific points -- but that's what the phrase means.

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