Yes. To bear with means to be patient with.[...]
Does "you have to bear with me a little bit here" mean you have to be patient?
Maybe, but it sounds a little odd. If I am going to fix something right way, why am I asking you to be patient?Can we say "if you don't mind bearing with me, I'll fix that for you now"?
Maybe the fixing will take some time. If that's the case, does the sentence make sense?Maybe, but it sounds a little odd. If I am going to fix something right way, why am I asking you to be patient?
...
Again, this sounds like instantaneous thing happening now. We can't know if we mind waiting or not if you don't tell us how long it's going to take.Maybe the fixing will take some time. If that's the case, does the sentence make sense?
That's something being said by a representative at a call centre. Maybe it was a bit different:
"If you don't mind bearing with me, I can go ahead and do the refund."
Does that sound a bit more natural?
Is B asking A to wait there until this afternoon?A: Can you fix my watch?
B: I'm busy right now, but if you can bear with me I can do it this afternoon. --or--
B: I'm kind of slow, but if you'll bear with me I'll try.
It seems that "I'm busy right now, but if you can bear with me I can do it this afternoon" gives the impression that the waiting is much longer than a little while unless the time when this is being said is close to noon. Does that make sense?...
Bear with me, it's true, can mean "wait for a little while", and that's what the watch-fixer has in mind in your examples above. ...
Good point, Sunyaer. If you've brought the watch to the repair shop at 9 or 10 a.m. and he says that—yes, you'll probably have a few hours to wait for that repair to be done. You'll need a bit more patience in that case.It seems that "I'm busy right now, but if you can bear with me I can do it this afternoon" gives the impression that the waiting is much longer than a little while unless the time when this is being said is close to noon. Does that make sense?
My question is: When he says that, does he mean that you have to wait at the shop? Could he mean that you can drop it off and come back to pick it up in the afternoon when he has time to fix it then? ("Bear with me" in this sense still has the meaning of "be patient" and "wait while someone does something", but which does not necessarily mean "wait on the spot".)Good point, Sunyaer. If you've brought the watch to the repair shop at 9 or 10 a.m. and he says that—yes, you'll probably have a few hours to wait for that repair to be done. You'll need a bit more patience in that case.
You'll need to ask him that question; "bear with me" doesn't cover those details.When he says that, does he mean that you have to wait at the shop? Could he mean that you can drop it off and come back to pick it up in the afternoon when he has time to fix it then?
As I understand now, literally, there is nothing in "bear with me" about waiting; it's the context that gives rise to the sense of waiting. Is that correct?But its more general meaning (which can include waiting) is "be patient" or "have patience" or "be tolerant".
...