English Language Learners Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for speakers of other languages learning English. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
The lecturer is saying
I am going to say that I'm gonna do like a lot of simplifications for the sake of the fact that this is a 30-minute talk.
and if you can squint and read C you should be pretty fine with this talk.
lots of posts like this one are using the phrase "squint and read" as well.
what does that mean? does "squint and read" mean "trying the best to read", "to take a glance", or something else?
What he means is:
This talk is only 30 minutes long so I will be simplifying things. You'll understand it better if you read C.
"Squint and read" seems to be a faddish idiom. To squint at something means to peer at it with one or both eyes narrowed in order to see it more clearly. [One may also squint at a bright light to protect one's eyes.] The correct expression would be "squint at and read (something)".
A squint meme appeared around 2013, possibly originating with this picture:
https://imgflip.com/memegenerator/13765115/Senior-Chang-Squinting
And soon several variations, including a "squint read" meme, began appearing. Evidently these were popular enough to give rise to "squint read" as a vogue expression.
When the lecturer says, "I'm gonna do like a lot of simplifications" and "you should be fine with this talk" he is using the language of young people; trying to show he's down with the kids. He uses the expression "squint and read" similarly, to persuade them he is cool.
The words ‘squint and read’ means to read something with your eyes somewhat closed or half-closed.