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#2 (permalink) Thu Jun 19, 2008 14:20 pm Soup That Eats Like a Meal |
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This construction has a name, but I can't remember it right now. You can use it with a limited group of verbs. It's a bit unusual to use it with the verb "eat", which is why the Campbell's slogan gets stuck in people's minds.
Here are some more examples:
Headlines: "Judge says gossip's complaint reads like a Spillane novel." "Enron's ethics code reads like fiction." "Phillip Shue case reads like a novel." "Ex-spy's poisoning reads like a thriller"
Sentences: "Good code reads like prose once it has been broken up into methods, functions, procedures, etc." "This article on the Texas GOP reads like it should be from The Onion (dallasnews.com)." "The New York Times reads like a gossip sheet." "It cooks like bacon." (Referring to a vegetarian bacon substitute.) "It cooks like any regular pasta." "It cooks like rice, but cooks in half the time and expands to four times its size." "It cooks like sweetcorn." "And it cooks like chicken too." |
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Jamie (K) I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 24 Feb 2006 Posts: 6552 Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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#3 (permalink) Thu Jun 19, 2008 14:24 pm Soup That Eats Like a Meal |
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| Quote: |
| This construction has a name, but I can't remember it right now. |
Is it "the middle voice"?
Thanks for the examples, Jamie. |
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Molly I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008 Posts: 4017
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#4 (permalink) Thu Jun 19, 2008 14:34 pm Soup That Eats Like a Meal |
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They sound like Russian constructions and remind me of ergative verbs (the door opened, the soup thickened, etc.) _________________ I am an incurable optimist. |
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Inga I'm here quite often ;-)

Joined: 21 Apr 2008 Posts: 275 Location: Minsk, Belarus
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#5 (permalink) Thu Jun 19, 2008 14:42 pm Soup That Eats Like a Meal |
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| They are ergative in a way, or another term would be "non-accusative". |
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Jamie (K) I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 24 Feb 2006 Posts: 6552 Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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#6 (permalink) Thu Jun 19, 2008 17:01 pm Soup That Eats Like a Meal |
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Perhaps
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The car can sit 10 people. The room can sleep 10 people |
Tom |
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Tom I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 30 May 2006 Posts: 2103
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#7 (permalink) Thu Jun 19, 2008 17:05 pm Soup That Eats Like a Meal |
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| Tom wrote: |
| The car can sit 10 people. |
This should be, "The car can seat 10 people." |
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Jamie (K) I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 24 Feb 2006 Posts: 6552 Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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#8 (permalink) Thu Jun 19, 2008 19:08 pm Soup That Eats Like a Meal |
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This has been much discussed in another forum. Here are two characteristic threads:
Put In The Shade.
Losing the Plot.
(We never did discover why Molly broke the china.)
MrP |
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MrPedantic I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 13 Oct 2006 Posts: 1326 Location: Southern England
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#9 (permalink) Thu Jun 19, 2008 19:19 pm Soup That Eats Like a Meal |
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Another example:
The product sells well.
TOEIC listening, photographs: Sitting around a table |
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Torsten Learning Coach

Joined: 25 Sep 2003 Posts: 14508 Location: EU
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#10 (permalink) Thu Jun 19, 2008 21:52 pm Soup That Eats Like a Meal |
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| MrPedantic wrote: |
(We never did discover why Molly broke the china.)
MrP |
Or why Mr P broke wind. :wink: |
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Molly I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008 Posts: 4017
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| ...when the adoptee would/will be 18 years old | thoughts vs thought |