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Although cows are famed for their ability to forecast rain hours advance, their talent for navigating has so far gone overlooked.

  1. Is that an idiomatic grammar construction or simply Present Perfect + past participle?
  2. It's not clear for me what sense the word "gone" makes.

1 Answer 1

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To go overlooked means that something or someone remains unnoticed, especially when there is something noteworthy about them. Thus,

They have gone overlooked.

Nobody has noticed them.

so far means "up until now".

Up until now, nobody has seen them and recognized that talent.

... their talent ... has, so far, gone overlooked ...

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  • I have grown accustomed to gone missing but I wince at gone overlooked. Is that American for been overlooked? Nov 10, 2018 at 22:47
  • @Ronald Sole: How about gone unquestioned? Nov 11, 2018 at 13:56
  • I could live with that. I guess it's a question of what one is familiar with. But I merely winced! Nov 11, 2018 at 14:28
  • @Ronald Sole: How about went unremarked? Nov 11, 2018 at 14:58
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    @Jane: You can us be or go. They have been | were overlooked is the most commonly used. have been contains the idea that they were overlooked even up to the present moment. Nov 11, 2018 at 21:14

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