Maybe if she had a running start

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braininvat - 29 Nov 2008 01:51 GMT

Gentle readers,

My question is about the use of ellipsis.

(A wahine tries to jump into a volcano to appease the god, but
failed.)

A: 'This isn't working.'
B: 'Maybe if she had a running start.'

ps. This is from a cartoon

What does the second sentence mean? Does this sentence sound ok to
you? Thanks.

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Steve Hayes - 29 Nov 2008 03:26 GMT

>Gentle readers,
>
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>What does the second sentence mean? Does this sentence sound ok to
>you? Thanks.

Like people who break field records (as opposed to track records) in long jump
and high jump at athletics contests - they run before jumping.

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Derek Turner - 29 Nov 2008 10:58 GMT

> Gentle readers,
>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> What does the second sentence mean? Does this sentence sound ok to you?
> Thanks.

There's an elision. It means

Maybe [it would work] if she had a running start.

It is perfectly idiomatic and sounds fine.

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braininvat - 29 Nov 2008 18:47 GMT

> > Gentle readers,
>
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>
> It is perfectly idiomatic and sounds fine.

Thank you very much.

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2008

Maybe if she had a running start