|
|
![You could so + [verb] ... means what?](/icon.gif "Post") #2 (permalink) Thu Aug 27, 2009 13:08 pm You could so + [verb] ... means what? |
|
|
Hi Peacemaker,
I answered your thread yesterday morning. Yesterday evening (US time) both your question and my response had vanished from the forum -- this thread had completely disappeared.
Last night, I posted a question in the Feedback and Comments forum asking what had happened to your thread. That thread has now also disappeared.
Now your thread has mysteriously reappeared (obviously). However, the answer I posted for your question has not yet reappeared. But maybe it will eventually. If it doesn't, I'll try to post it again when I get a chance.
_________________________________
“The final mystery is oneself.” ~ Oscar Wilde |
|
 Esl_Expert
I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 26 Dec 2008
Posts: 969
Location: USA
|
|
| #3 (permalink) Thu Aug 27, 2009 13:53 pm I secure tachycardia (racing hub), is there something that can repress dispositi |
|
|
| I don`t responsibility if it`s healthy. |
|
Fatindivid
New Member
Joined: 27 Aug 2009
Posts: 1
Location: USA
|
 |
| #4 (permalink) Thu Aug 27, 2009 15:42 pm You could so + [verb] ... means what? |
|
|
| Esl_Expert wrote: |
Hi Peacemaker,
I answered your thread yesterday morning. Yesterday evening (US time) both your question and my response had vanished from the forum -- this thread had completely disappeared.
Last night, I posted a question in the Feedback and Comments forum asking what had happened to your thread. That thread has now also disappeared.
Now your thread has mysteriously reappeared (obviously). However, the answer I posted for your question has not yet reappeared. But maybe it will eventually. If it doesn't, I'll try to post it again when I get a chance.
_________________________________
“The final mystery is oneself.” ~ Oscar Wilde |
Hi Esl_Expert,
you're right. I noticed that too. Perhaps Torsten has some kind of the problem with the database or something. I hope that he will return your answer back, because I've forgotten to save it on my hard drive. Thanks again for reply on my question.
cheers
PM |
|
PeaceMaker
I'm new here and I like it ;-)
Joined: 26 Mar 2009
Posts: 44
|
|
| #5 (permalink) Fri Aug 28, 2009 1:30 am You could so + [verb] ... means what? |
|
|
Hello PeaceMaker,
OK, I guess my original post isn't going to reappear, so here are my thoughts about your question once again:
Sentence (b) is different from sentences (a) and (c) because the word "so" modifies the adverb "easily". The meaning is similar to "very".
Look at definition 2b here:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/so
The word "so" can also modify an adjective. In the following example, the word "so" emphasizes the (extreme) degree of the adjective "hungry":
- I'm starving. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!
.........................................................
In sentences (a) and (c), there are actually two different ways that "so" could possibly be interpreted. The way I mentioned in my lost post is a slangy and relatively new usage. You'll hear this usage in very casual conversation, and you're probably more likely to hear people under the age of 35 (approximately) using it. It is used to emphasize the verb, and, yes, it does carry a meaning similar to "really" or "most decidedly" or "surely". (Look at definition 1e in the dictionary link above.)
It is also often used with the negative form of the verb in order to emphasize the extreme nature of the negation:
- He so doesn't get it. He's about as dense as they come.
(He is completely incapable of understanding any of it at all.)
| PeaceMaker wrote: |
| c) I'm not bragging, but you could so eat out of your downstairs toilet. = I don't wanna sound boastful, but it would be really good if you won't be eating at your downstairs toilet????? |
No, without any other context, I would understand this to mean "the toilet is so clean you could eat out of it". In other words, the toilet is extremely clean.
I have no idea whether this particular way of using "so" can also be heard in British English.
.........................................................
There is another possible interpretation for "so" in sentences (a) and (c), but I would need to see additional context to know whether or not it might have been the intended meaning.
Look at definition 2d in the dictionary link above. If this were the intended meaning in sentence (a), for example, then it would have been preceded by a sentence something like the first one below:
A: I couldn't possibly read that.
B: You could so read this! You just don't want to.
In the mini-conversation above, person B above is contradicting person A, and the word "so" is used to emphasize the contradiction.
It wouldn't be at all unusual to hear this sort of argument between two young kids:
C: You don't know anything.
D: I do so! (= I do know something.)
C: Do not!
D: Do so!
C: Do not!
D: Do so!
C: Do not!
D: Do so!
C: Do not!
(etc.)
;-)
_________________________
“The first condition of progress is the removal of censorship.” ~ George Bernard Shaw |
|
Esl_Expert
I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 26 Dec 2008
Posts: 969
Location: USA
|
|
| #6 (permalink) Fri Aug 28, 2009 7:14 am You could so + [verb] ... means what? |
|
|
| Esl_Expert wrote: |
Hello PeaceMaker,
OK, I guess my original post isn't going to reappear, so here are my thoughts about your question once again:
Sentence (b) is different from sentences (a) and (c) because the word "so" modifies the adverb "easily". The meaning is similar to "very".
Look at definition 2b here:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/so
The word "so" can also modify an adjective. In the following example, the word "so" emphasizes the (extreme) degree of the adjective "hungry":
- I'm starving. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!
.........................................................
In sentences (a) and (c), there are actually two different ways that "so" could possibly be interpreted. The way I mentioned in my lost post is a slangy and relatively new usage. You'll hear this usage in very casual conversation, and you're probably more likely to hear people under the age of 35 (approximately) using it. It is used to emphasize the verb, and, yes, it does carry a meaning similar to "really" or "most decidedly" or "surely". (Look at definition 1e in the dictionary link above.)
It is also often used with the negative form of the verb in order to emphasize the extreme nature of the negation:
- He so doesn't get it. He's about as dense as they come.
(He is completely incapable of understanding any of it at all.)
| PeaceMaker wrote: |
| c) I'm not bragging, but you could so eat out of your downstairs toilet. = I don't wanna sound boastful, but it would be really good if you won't be eating at your downstairs toilet????? |
No, without any other context, I would understand this to mean "the toilet is so clean you could eat out of it". In other words, the toilet is extremely clean.
I have no idea whether this particular way of using "so" can also be heard in British English.
.........................................................
There is another possible interpretation for "so" in sentences (a) and (c), but I would need to see additional context to know whether or not it might have been the intended meaning.
Look at definition 2d in the dictionary link above. If this were the intended meaning in sentence (a), for example, then it would have been preceded by a sentence something like the first one below:
A: I couldn't possibly read that.
B: You could so read this! You just don't want to.
In the mini-conversation above, person B above is contradicting person A, and the word "so" is used to emphasize the contradiction.
It wouldn't be at all unusual to hear this sort of argument between two young kids:
C: You don't know anything.
D: I do so! (= I do know something.)
C: Do not!
D: Do so!
C: Do not!
D: Do so!
C: Do not!
D: Do so!
C: Do not!
(etc.)
;-)
_________________________
“The first condition of progress is the removal of censorship.” ~ George Bernard Shaw |
Thanks a lot for reposting your answer. I finally saved it to my PC.
have a nice weekend
PM |
|
PeaceMaker
I'm new here and I like it ;-)
Joined: 26 Mar 2009
Posts: 44
|
|
|
| America Born Chinese / American Born Chinese? | Present simple tense in the newspaper. |
