freecounterpoint: Tecs queries, Whither Mitt?

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Ans: He offended Central Sq.

Tecumseh said...: How can one offend "Central Sq" -- a non-existing place, which, even if construed to exist, could not be possibly offended, since it (putatively) consists of a few dingy buildings around the intersection of two random streets in Cambridge.; 1/19/2010 9:37 AM
Mr roT said...: It's a metaphor, Tecs. Like
Give my regards to Broadway, remember me to Herald Square,
Tell all the gang at Forty-Second Street, that I will soon be there;

In the first two sentences, the character is not really intending that her interlocutors greet a street or a crossroads. She makes clear what she really means in the third sentence.

Given your long tenure in the environs of the Big Apple, I thought you might understand this song and thus similar grammatical constructions.; 1/19/2010 9:46 AM
Tecumseh said...: Herr Rot, you are too sophisticated for me. You know me, I'm just an ad-literam sort of guy. Too many ellipses and hyperbolas in your constructions, and you lose me.; 1/19/2010 6:35 PM
Mr roT said...: You need to learn some nuance, Tecs. May I suggest that you ponder the sign $\lesssim$ for a fortnight? Perhaps it will do you some good.; 1/19/2010 8:14 PM