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kerstin
Joined: 30 May 2006
Posts: 241
Location: Taiwan
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 Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 5:58 am Post subject: three questions |
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1. It's a rare person who actually looks good in clothes directly off the rack.
People rarely look good in clothes that are taken directly off the rack.
Do they mean the same thing?
2. Her supervisors viewed her *as just as*"pretty girl" who "wore sexy outfits."
Could anyone explain the grammar of *as just as*?
3. Apply perfume or cologne with an extremely light *hand*.
What does *hand* mean in this sentence?
Thanks to you guys. |
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2006
Joined: 27 Nov 2006
Posts: 610
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| Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 7:57 am Post subject: |
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1..Yes.
2..."as just as" is wrong. The correct ways are "...viewed her as just a pretty girl..." and "...viewed here just as a pretty girl...".
3..."hand" means your hand, actually your finger(s). The emphasis here is on "light hand". It means to apply it lightly, to put on just a little, not a lot. At least that's what I think it means but maybe a perfume user will correct me. |
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Bob S.
Joined: 29 Apr 2004
Posts: 1767
Location: So. Cal
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 8:49 pm Post subject: Re: three questions |
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| kerstin wrote: |
1. It's a rare person who actually looks good in clothes directly off the rack.
People rarely look good in clothes that are taken directly off the rack.
Do they mean the same thing? |
No.
In the first one, there is a select few number of people who ever look good in clothes off the rack. In the second one, everyone can look good in clothes off the rack but only on rare occasions for each person.
See the difference? |
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2006
Joined: 27 Nov 2006
Posts: 610
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| Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 8:41 pm Post subject: |
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Hi Bob
I see the point that you are making and you can make that distinction, but I also think that the two sentences can mean the same thing.
If you consider the sentences in terms of a large group of people, to me they mean the same. In any large group of people wearing clothes off the rack, there will only be a small number looking good. Looking at it this way, I think we can say "It's a rare person...." or "People rarely...".
Are you convinced at all? |
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bud
Joined: 09 Mar 2003
Posts: 2111
Location: New Jersey, US
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| Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2007 8:20 am Post subject: |
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I have to agree with 2006 on this one. Technically, the sentence says what Bob says it does. But it doesn't make sense that a person would look good in clothes off the rack only once in a while. Why today but not tomorrow? And then that happens for each of us?
So I think we automatically shift the meaning to what was probably intended by the speaker. And I think most of us, in casual speech, would probably phrase the thought in the second way. The first is a little more eloquent than what we usually utter off the tops of our heads.
So at least in casual speech, they're the same, in my opinion. |
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Bob S.
Joined: 29 Apr 2004
Posts: 1767
Location: So. Cal
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| Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:03 pm Post subject: |
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| 2006 wrote: |
I see the point that you are making and you can make that distinction, but I also think that the two sentences can mean the same thing.
...Looking at it this way, I think we can say "It's a rare person...." or "People rarely...".
Are you convinced at all? |
Yes and No.
Grammatically, you would analyze the two sentences thus:
"It's a rare person who actually looks..."
In this case, rare is an adjective modifying person, so it is an infrequent or unusual person.
"People rarely look..."
In this case, rarely is an adverb modifying look, so it could be all people who look good but do so rarely.
But it is all splitting hairs. In colloquial speech, you are correct. A person could say "Women rarely have more than 2 children nowadays." and it is understood that it is a rare woman who has more than 2 children, not that all women do but rarely in their life.
| bud wrote: |
| But it doesn't make sense that a person would look good in clothes off the rack only once in a while. Why today but not tomorrow? And then that happens for each of us? |
I took it to mean that everyone will at some time in their life, albeit rarely, find an article of clothing off the rack that has a style, cut, pattern, or whatever, that matches the person well and makes them look good without the need for tailoring. You will always look good in that rare article, but it is very infrequent that you will stumble across such a piece of clothing. (But hey, what would I know. I'm a jeans and T-shirt kind'a guy.  ) |
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bud
Joined: 09 Mar 2003
Posts: 2111
Location: New Jersey, US
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| Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 12:04 pm Post subject: |
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Me, too! 
Thanks for your insights, Bob. |
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