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Dreams never hurt anybody if he keeps working right behind the dream to make as much of it come real as he can.

Weird
11 (100%)
Not weird
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 11

Author Topic: Is this sentence weird?  (Read 1624 times)

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Offline Jonathon

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Is this sentence weird?
« on: April 23, 2007, 07:57:45 PM »
It struck me as odd when I read it, and I want to see if anyone else shares my reaction. I have an idea about what seemed off, but I'll wait until I get a few responses before I say.
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Offline rivka

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Is this sentence weird?
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2007, 08:57:24 PM »
:blink:

It's like those translated-to-English-only-not-quite directions for putting furniture together.
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
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Offline Jonathon

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Is this sentence weird?
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2007, 08:38:20 AM »
I think most of the weirdness comes from the fact that it's a little archaic—it comes from this guy, who died over two hundred years ago. But the thing that struck me the most was the use of "he." I honestly thought, "He who? Shouldn't it be 'they'?" And I don't say that just because I like "they" as an indefinite personal pronoun, but because it actually seemed wrong to use "he."
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Offline Porter

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Is this sentence weird?
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2007, 09:11:09 AM »
That's the exact same reaction I had.
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Offline Tante Shvester

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Is this sentence weird?
« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2007, 12:55:41 PM »
Quote
Dreams never hurt anybody if he keeps working right behind the dream to make as much of it come real as he can.

For sure weird.  How about, "Dreams never hurt anybody who kept working..."
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Offline rivka

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Is this sentence weird?
« Reply #5 on: April 24, 2007, 02:06:22 PM »
Quote
I think most of the weirdness comes from the fact that it's a little archaic—it comes from this guy, who died over two hundred years ago.
What do you expect? Burke was a stuffed shirt. ;)

Quote
But the thing that struck me the most was the use of "he." I honestly thought, "He who? Shouldn't it be 'they'?" And I don't say that just because I like "they" as an indefinite personal pronoun, but because it actually seemed wrong to use "he."
Ah. In theory, "anybody" is singular. But I don't think we use it as such anymore, do we?
« Last Edit: April 24, 2007, 02:06:34 PM by rivka »
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
-Aaron Kunin

Offline Jonathon

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Is this sentence weird?
« Reply #6 on: April 24, 2007, 02:21:30 PM »
It's grammatically singular but semantically plural, so it is usually paired with singular verbs and other singular pronouns. For instance, I wouldn't say "Do anybody want a piece of cake?" I can't imagine using a singular verb with it, though I obviously have no problem using the allegedly plural pronoun they with it.
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Offline rivka

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Is this sentence weird?
« Reply #7 on: April 24, 2007, 02:55:16 PM »
Ok, that explains why I couldn't figure out if we consider it plural or singular -- we tend to be inconsistent. ;)
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
-Aaron Kunin

Offline kojabu

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Is this sentence weird?
« Reply #8 on: April 24, 2007, 08:19:31 PM »
Yes weird.