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Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong?


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In or Into? | Negatives in infinitive.
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Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong? Mon Apr 14, 2008 14:26 pm  Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong?
 

Hi,
I've come across this sentence (as an example for the word "backfire") in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English:
The company's new policy backfired when a number of employees threatened to quit.
=> I far as I am concerned, we just use "'s" for human and animals, and never for things, so is the dictionary wrong?

Many thanks
Nessie
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Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong? Mon Apr 14, 2008 14:57 pm  Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong?
 

"The company's policy" means "the poilicy of those who run the company".
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Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong? Mon Apr 14, 2008 15:04 pm  Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong?
 

but anyway, the company still sounds like a "thing",right? Smile
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Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong? Mon Apr 14, 2008 15:05 pm  Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong?
 

Hi Nessie

The possessive 's is often used for things as well.
.
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Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong? Mon Apr 14, 2008 15:09 pm  Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong?
 

Hi Amy,
Is that usage British English or American English?
Thanks a lot
Nessie
nessie
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Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong? Mon Apr 14, 2008 15:13 pm  Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong?
 

nessie wrote:
Hi Amy,
Is that usage British English or American English?
Thanks a lot
Nessie

Both.
Molly
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Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong? Mon Apr 14, 2008 15:17 pm  Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong?
 

Then what I have heard from my teacher about that "'s" used for human and animals only must be ancient English...
nessie
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Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong? Mon Apr 14, 2008 15:20 pm  Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong?
 

nessie wrote:
Then what I have heard from my teacher about that "'s" used for human and animals only must be ancient English...

...or a bad teacher Wink As far as I know, this usage of s' for inanimate things is dated back to the time out of mind Wink
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Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong? Mon Apr 14, 2008 15:26 pm  Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong?
 

Hi Nessie

I'd put it this way:

It is "safest" to use the possessive 's with people and animals. Using it with things is often possible, but it doesn't always work well. In addition, we often use the thing as an adjective rather than using the possessive form. For example, instead of saying the tree's trunk, we'd probably just say the tree trunk instead.
.
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Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong? Mon Apr 14, 2008 17:36 pm  Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong?
 

Quote:
we often use the thing as an adjective rather than using the possessive form. For example, instead of saying the tree's trunk, we'd probably just say the tree trunk instead.

Where's the adjective there?
Molly
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Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong? Mon Apr 14, 2008 18:29 pm  Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong?
 

.
Note the use of the word 'as' ("as an adjective"), Molly. In other words, it is used 'like' an adjective.
All of the following refer to some sort of trunk(s):

- antique trunk
- long trunk
- wide trunk
- swimming trunks
- tree trunk
.
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Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong? Mon Apr 14, 2008 21:16 pm  Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong?
 

Hi Nessie,

Don't worry too much about the apostrophe question indicating possession. I think you have to think it through and decide whether putting the apostrophe would make sense or not. You wouldn't say for example 'the table's leg' because it sounds ridiculous and you would say instead 'table leg'. With 'company' of course you are talking about a company of people and in that case it is acceptable.

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Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong? Mon Apr 14, 2008 23:38 pm  Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong?
 

Yankee wrote:
.
Note the use of the word 'as' ("as an adjective"), Molly. In other words, it is used 'like' an adjective.
All of the following refer to some sort of trunk(s):

- antique trunk
- long trunk
- wide trunk
- swimming trunks
- tree trunk
.

Ah, right, used adjectivally, right? I agree.
Molly
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Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong? Mon Apr 14, 2008 23:40 pm  Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong?
 

Quote:
You wouldn't say for example 'the table's leg' because it sounds ridiculous and you would say instead 'table leg'.

But. Alan, you're thinking as a native, there. Many ESL students would not know it sounds ridiculous. So we're back to square one. "The table's leg" sounds no more ridiculous than "the sun's rays", to many of us.

Consider these examples from the real world:

Quote:
"When he did rise in the chair it was slowly and grudgingly and he followed McQuaid out into the stone hallway as if he were finding it difficult to walk or move. He held his hand on the door 's edge in the darkness of the hallway."

Amongst women. McGahern, J. London: Faber & Faber Ltd, 1990

Quote:
They switched on the car 's headlights as a beacon; but, all of a sudden, as the Prince and his companions were half-way across the water, the lights swung round and moved away as the vehicle set off down the glen.

Charles and Diana. Junor, Penny. London: Headline Book Pub. plc, 1991

Quote:
The man ordered her out of the car at Farley Mount and then bound her 23-year-old boyfriend before forcing him into the car 's boot.

Liverpool Echo & Daily Post. Liverpool: Liverpool Daily Post & Echo Ltd, 1993

And:

Quote:
The table Andy is perched over is stacked with several hundred champagne glasses, forming a glittering pyramid rising a couple of metres from the table 's surface .

Complicity. Banks, Iain. London: Little, Brown & Company, 1993

Quote:
For at the table 's head sat the most bizarre Scarabae of all. In an exactly similar perhaps resewn dress of dark green voile and net, a necklace that was a heart of green cut-glass, and jade ear pendants, her black hair flowing from tortoiseshell combs, her face smoothly powdered, lids black,

Dark dance. Lee, Tanith. London: Warner Books, 1993

Source: http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/x.asp
Molly
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Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong? Mon Apr 14, 2008 23:44 pm  Is Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wrong?
 

Try searching the * 's * here:

http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/x.asp

Interesting results.
Molly
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