Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[sleeper]

Hi, there.

Today I'd like to ask you about a sentence.
Look at the sentence:

Mary had a man's cap to put on backward in case Bob should ever ask her to ride with him.

I cannot understand or visualize what this sentence means.
Especially, what does the word 'backward' actually mean in this particular case?

Would you explain and paraphrase this sentence?

I'm waiting for your answer.

Thanks.

[LucentShade]

Mary had a man's cap to put on backward in case Bob should ever ask her to ride with him.

First, what's the context? What are they riding? Horses?

"backward" in this sentence means in the opposite direction that the hat is normally worn. I'm guessing that putting the hat on backwards serves a practical purpose--maybe she has long hair and needs to control it somehow. The last part of the sentence is an older way of phrasing a conditional--it means that Bob might ask her to ride with him, and if he does, she has a man's cap. Again, I don't know what's happening in the sentence, but the hat will be useful for her if Bob asks her to go riding. It's kind of like saying, "She carries an umbrella with her in case it should rain."