Teacher Discussion Forums

The expression ready for Freddy always meant "prepared for (almost) anything" where I grew up.

Could that imply that the expression no longer means the same, has another meaning, or the speaker has no information about the present meaning of the expression. Or, could it mean that the speaker knows that word still means the same?

And what would be the difference in meaning between these?

The expression ready for Freddy always meant "prepared for (almost) anything" where I grew up.

The expression ready for Freddy has always meant "prepared for (almost) anything" where I grew up.

Well, to my mind, the addition of 'and it still does' sits less well with the present perfect, for a start.

fluffyhamster wrote:Well, to my mind, the addition of 'and it still does' sits less well with the present perfect, for a start.

Could you expand on that comment?

Could that imply that the expression

• a) no longer means the same,
  b) has another meaning,
  c) or the speaker has no information about the present meaning of the expression

Yes

And what would be the difference in meaning between these?

The expression ready for Freddy always meant "prepared for (almost) anything" where I grew up.

The expression ready for Freddy has always meant "prepared for (almost) anything" where I grew up.

a) and c) are not possible with the second sentence.[/list]

This is interesting. A student of mine has two native AE speakers on another forum telling her that the sentence below can in no way be read ambiguously. They say that it can only mean the expression still has the same meaning where the speaker grew up.

The expression ready for Freddy always meant "prepared for (almost) anything" where I grew up.

I'm wondering why they can't see the possibility for an ambiguous reading, especially when "always meant" normally implies something is no longer true.