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#2 (permalink) Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:52 am Hard-to-buy-for person: where do you put stress? |
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Hi Tamara,
Do I detect the faint sound of jingle bells lurking in the background of this question? I would say there is no word stressed more than another in this little chain of words. As for finding another word for it well that's too tall an order for me.
A _________________ English as a Second Language You can read my ESL story Present Simple |
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Alan Co-founder

Joined: 27 Sep 2003 Posts: 13891 Location: UK
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#3 (permalink) Sat Nov 04, 2006 11:01 am Hard-to-buy-for person: where do you put stress? |
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Hi Alan,
So you'd recommend pronouncing it in an unmusical and hopelessly monotonous manner? :)
...too... for you?
OK... I feel that all is left to me now is to think of buying for (jingle bell) present the picture you've recently recommended :) _________________ It’s impossible to learn swimming without entering the water… |
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Tamara I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 25 May 2006 Posts: 1577 Location: UK
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#4 (permalink) Sat Nov 04, 2006 11:04 am Stress |
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Hi Tamara,
| Quote: |
| So you'd recommend pronouncing it in an unmusical and hopelessly monotonous manner? |
No, I don't sound like that!
A _________________ English as a Foreign Language You can read my EFL story Progressive Forms |
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Alan Co-founder

Joined: 27 Sep 2003 Posts: 13891 Location: UK
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#5 (permalink) Sat Nov 04, 2006 11:09 am Hard-to-buy-for person: where do you put stress? |
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Alan, when I'm trying to pronounce it, I always put stress on for... but, to be honest I've never heard how it should sound. Just saw it in writing.
And, yes, the real and (fatal :) ) necessity to buy a present for a person of such kind reminds me the expression :) _________________ It’s impossible to learn swimming without entering the water… |
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Tamara I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 25 May 2006 Posts: 1577 Location: UK
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#6 (permalink) Sat Nov 04, 2006 11:23 am Hard-to-buy-for person: where do you put stress? |
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| Tamara wrote: |
He is a hard-to-buy-for person.
I like this precise (AmE?) expression :)
Could you say:
1. Where do you put stress when pronounce it? :) If use it. |
I'd tend to stress the words 'hard' and 'buy' slightly and possibly also have a slight pause after the word 'hard'. I definitely would not stress the word 'for' -- rather the opposite.
| Tamara wrote: |
| 2. If you don’t (use this expression), what expression/word do you use instead? |
I might also use finicky. :D
Amy _________________ "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln |
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Yankee I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 16 Apr 2006 Posts: 8316 Location: USA
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| Inconsistencies, irregularities and curiosities of English | 'Twenty years' versus 'The twenty years' |