[lit-ideas] Re: I shall appreciate the opinion of native speaker sof English on the correctness fo the judgment in the last line (to the effect that the sentence can mean and can only mean THE BOY WHO LOST IS LEFT
- From: John McCreery <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:25:38 +0900
To me it would not mean the boy who is lost left.
It could mean is the boy who lost [the game] still here?
It could also mean is the boy who lost [the game, fight, whatever] left
[speaking of political parties].
The critical difference is between "the boy who *is* lost," i.e. confused
about which direction to go, can't find his parents, etc., and "the boy who
lost," which assumes a game or fight or some other rivalrous activity.
JOhn
On Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 9:40 PM, Adriano Palma <Palma@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Is the boy who
> lost left
>
>
> fails to have the following interpretation:
> (is it the case that) the boy who is lost left?
> Why does this string only mean:
> **
> **
>
>
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John McCreery
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