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Drag0nspeaker |
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Monday, September 12, 2011 |
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Friday, August 16, 2019 1:17:28 AM |
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At first he thought "leave", but then he decided "remain". Now he's decidedly uncertain.
CHAOTIC ORDER
Wyrd bið ful aræd - bull!
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oddly
Wyrd bið ful aræd - bull!
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Click the image, it's a video.
Goosey, goosey, gander . . .
Wyrd bið ful aræd - bull!
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Wilmar (USA) wrote:It's very common to hear "you're probably right."
That's right!
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That's interesting - sounds like they're being NSA for other countries.
Mind you, if the USA plots to send in a puppet to foment disaffection, what do you expect?
Wyrd bið ful aræd - bull!
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Hmmmmmmm 
If you admit something, you concede that it's true. So if you are only admitting that it's probable and could be true, you have to say that.
"I concede that you are right" says that it is DEFINITELY true (not just probable).
"I allow for the possibility of you being right" is correct, but sounds extremely pompous to me - exaggeratedly ostentatious.
I'd just say "You may well be right" or "I admit you may be right" or "I concede the fact you may be right." - the last is a bit more formal
Wyrd bið ful aræd - bull!
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Hi Ivan!
Synonyms? - By gosh, they don't mean the same to me!
Quote:possibility – opportunity
1. 'possibility'
If there is a possibility of something happening or being true, it might happen or be true.
There was a possibility that they had taken the wrong road.
We must accept the possibility that we might be wrong.
If there is no possibility of something happening or being true, it cannot happen or be true.
There was now no possibility of success.
There is no possibility that he did that accidentally.
If you talk or think about the possibility of doing something, you are considering whether to do it.
He talked about the possibility of getting married.
Be Careful!
Don't say 'He talked about the possibility to get married.'
2. 'opportunity'
When a situation makes it possible for someone to do something, don't say that they have 'the possibility to do' it. Say that they have the opportunity to do it or the opportunity of doing it.
You will have the opportunity to study several different subjects in your first year.
Sadly, I never had the opportunity of meeting him.
Collins COBUILD English Usage
The opportunity is not the possibility of something - it is the situation which makes something possible or the situation in which it is possible.
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An "eventuality" is a possible event - something to prepare for or plan for (again, 'eventuality' is not the possibility, it's the possible event).
In the eventuality that my mother comes to visit, we'll have to get more food.
In the 1960s, some people dug shelters against the eventuality of a nuclear war.
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"Contingency" is almost always used as an adjective - you have "contingency plans" or "contingency supplies".
A contingency is what might happen if an eventuality occurs.
If my mother comes to visit (the eventuality), we will need more food (the contingency).
We have a contingency plan for if the roads are blocked by snow.
I have a freezer full of contingency food, in case we have visitors.
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I noticed while checking the definitions, that in philosophy - from Thomas Aquinas to modern political philosophy - "contingency" and "eventuality" are used with very special meanings (I don't know anything about this, myself). They seem to be contrasted with "free will" - they "just happen", when no-one intends them to happen - "accidents".
So - "Possibility" is the level of likelihood that something will happen.
What's the possibility that it will rain tomorrow? - It's almost certain.
"Opportunity" is a situation in which something is possible. It's a time when 'something' will not be prevented.
Today only - you have the opportunity to buy a car for only £100!
"An eventuality" is a possible future event. It is the thing which might happen.
In the eventuality of fire, break the glass to sound the alarm.
"Contingency" is normally used as a modifier. "A contingency" is the further event which will happen after an eventuality has occurred.
A total shut-down of operations is a contingency which will only occur in the eventuality of all three computers crashing at the same time.
We have a contingency plan for if that happens
Wyrd bið ful aræd - bull!
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Right - so he's married to the old woman and they have a daughter - and he has a daughter from an earlier marriage.
Once upon a time there lived an old man and his wife with two daughters - one from his previous marriage and one of their own.
I think that's about the simplest way to say it.
"By marriage" might work. Some people may use that - but it doesn't sound "normal" to me.
After typing that last sentence, I checked - it shows how infrequently I use such phrases!
"Daughter from a previous marriage" is more common NOW, but that is only true since 1990.
Prior to 1975, "from" was hardly ever used. The normal phrase used "by".
In that sentence, "you have wasted the time" sounds OK - it is the time allocated to sewing.
Very often, the phrase is "you've wasted your/my time", but "the" is good here.
"Bosom" does not work here, as I explained here. You could use "chest", but to make the later sentence easier, I'd say it like this.
2) And while he was felling the poplar to make a cradle, trying not to chop off even a chip, a nit-sized chip split from the tree and fell on the old man's chest.
. . . while he was taking off his coat by the fire in the evening, a beautiful silver-encrusted pipe with a golden chain and a cigarette holder one and a half sazhens long fell out of his shirt.
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There are a few 'odd' idioms which make the story difficult to read in English (for an English person).
- Who are your parents? I will seek your hand in marriage, tell me where you live – He said. He was said a place she lived in and went to the old man and the old woman.
- I will propose your daughter, - He told and left.
"Seek your hand in marriage" is exactly the same in English, so that's good.
The punctuation is strange to me; I'm used to inverted commas, but I have seen dashes used sometimes.
There is a difference between "said" and "told".
The object of "say/said" is the speech (and it can come before the verb or after if it's direct speech). The object of "tell/told" is the person being spoken to and the speech or a noun like "story, tale, lie, truth" - and it always comes after the verb (except in the passive).
I've coloured the direct objects in red.
My brother said "I am going to work."
My brother said that he was going to work.
"I am going to work", my brother said.
My brother told me that he was going to work.
My brother told me the story.
I was told the story by my brother.
The story was told me by my brother.
The second sentence has one passive clause and one active - it sounds strange.
You propose to someone. You propose marriage.
"Who are your parents? I will seek your hand in marriage, tell me where you live", he said. She told him where she lived and he went to the old man and the old woman.
"I will propose to your daughter", he said and left.
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There's more, but that's enough for just now.
Wyrd bið ful aræd - bull!
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In form, they are singular and plural as you say. Well, "suffering" acts as a singular and "hardship" acts as a singular - the whole phrase "suffering and hardship" is plural, as there are two nouns.
However, in use they are uncountable (abstract), and plural countable.
The suffering and hardship connected to being poor and sick are immense.
The suffering connected to being poor and sick is immense, as is the hardship.
The sufferings and hardships she endures are immense.
The sufferings she endures are immense, as are the hardships.
Wyrd bið ful aræd - bull!
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These are similar to, but not the same as the non-apology attributed to Winston Churchill (I'm not sure whether it's true).
The story is that he called another Member of Parliament "a liar" and was told to apologise.
He said "I did call the honourable gentleman a liar; it's true and I'm sorry for it."
Wyrd bið ful aræd - bull!
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