Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[fw]

The passage #1, below, is from yesterday�s newspaper.
1. The biggest squid ever caught, at up to 10 metres long and boasting a fearsome beak and razor-sharp hooks, may be small compared to others still lurking in the depths, scientists said.

When I read this passage, I wondered if the "at" was necessary there.
If it were #2, below, would it be grammatically wrong and unnatural English?
2. The biggest squid ever caught, up to 10 metres long and boasting a fearsome beak and razor-sharp hooks, may be small compared to others still lurking in the depths, scientists said.

I found a sentence, #3, below, at some web site.
3. Since he was a strikingly attractive man, almost two meters tall, women practically besieged him as they would a film star nowadays.

I wonder why, in this case, it is not like #4, below.
4. Since he was a strikingly attractive man, at almost two meters tall, women practically besieged him as they would a film star nowadays.

[Suzanne]

Hi!

I think "at" is necessary in this news story. "At up to" means the same as "approximately." The sentence could also have said, "The biggest squid ever caught, approximately 10 metres long and boasting a fearsome beak and razor-sharp hooks, may be small compared to others still lurking in the depths, scientists said. "

With that in mind, you can see why #3 is correct, because the man's height is known (the sentence just doesn't state his exact height in cm or inches) "Since he was a strikingly attractive man, almost two meters tall, women practically besieged him as they would a film star nowadays."
Does that help?

I found a great link to the Colossal Squid story, from National Geographic. It shows the size comparison of the squid to a school bus!


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070222-squid-pictures.html