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Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2009While Bum was let out of the room
Hello: 1. Wouldn't a continuous "while Bum was being let out of the room" be better, taking into account the durative implied by "while" and the "long delay" mentioned? "was let out" seems quite short time-wise to me. 2. Powell uses a lot the colon (:) in his punctuation. Is that stil current in BrE in similar cases, or would now a semi-colon (;) be more common? ---- [Bum is a dog] There was another long delay while Bum was let out of the room into the garden: and, after Bum's return, Commandant Leroy shook hands with both of us, and shuffled off to bed. A Dance to the Music of Time, Spring, by Anthony Powell, p. 106 ----  SignatureThanks. Marius Hancu > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > garden: and, after Bum's return, Commandant Leroy shook hands with both > of us, and shuffled off to bed. These are posh folk with huge houses and staff. It's possible that they had to ring for the under-dog-handler to come up from the under-dog-handler's chambers in the basement and handle the dog. Or it might simply have been a long way from the current room to the back door into the garden. So the action of letting Bum out could well have continued for a few minutes. Ah, but, I see on reading the expert properly, "let out" doesn't mean "sent out". It means "sent out to relieve himself in the garden and then return". Even for a dog, this could take a few minutes. SignatureDavid [snip] Thanks. > > 2. Powell uses a lot the colon (:) in his punctuation. Is that stil > > current in BrE in similar cases, or would now a semi-colon (;) be more [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > garden: and, after Bum's return, Commandant Leroy shook hands with both > > of us, and shuffled off to bed. Any ideas on my 2nd question? Marius Hancu > [snip] > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Any ideas on my 2nd question? Only my own uninformed view - I wouldn't expect to see a colon there. Actually, although I'm a great user of semi-colons I would be happy with a comma after "garden". If I did replace it with a semi-colon I would have to lose the "and". SignatureDavid [and had previously asked:] >>>> 2. Powell uses a lot the colon (:) in his punctuation. Is that stil >>>> current in BrE in similar cases, or would now a semi-colon (;) be [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > with a comma after "garden". If I did replace it with a semi-colon I > would have to lose the "and". I agree with your thoughts. As a side note, I would have put a commas in your second and third sentences -- one after the "semi-colons" and one after the "semi-colon". SignatureSkitt (AmE) > [and had previously asked:] > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > in your second and third sentences -- one after the "semi-colons" and > one after the "semi-colon". I wouldn't mark those wrong, but I'm also happy with my originals. SignatureDavid in a Hilton > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > Thanks. > Marius Hancu Colons are for complete sentences: They are short-hand for "in other words", and they should begin with a capital. Semi-colons are for incomplete sentences; fragments which explain. Powell's example is a miss. _______ http://ecn.ab.ca/~brewhaha/wish.ogg Destroy That Machine which calls itself Michael. |
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