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Discussion Groups / English Usage / July 2009guns leave bullets
Let me ask a question about the usage of "leave" in the following sentence from a novel. I intend to leave the gun in the car. Guns leave bullets and people see cars, so it's important to completely destroy the car and everything in it. Understand? (the Perican Brief,p26, by J.Chrisham) Context: An assasin is saying this to the person who hired him. Question: about the meaning of "Guns leave bullets". 'Leave' has some different meanings as a verb, according to Longman 1) go away from a place or a person 2) leave somebody/something alone 3) to let something remain in a particular state, position, or condition I'm confused which meaning to pick up for this case. "Guns leave bullets" meaning "guns go away from bullets"? or meaning "guns leave bullets alone"? or "guns leave bullets in a particular state"? Either of which doesn't seem to fit. If it were "bullets leave guns", I feel it would be understanble, meaining "bullets depart from a gun". But "guns leave bullets, I don't know. Would you help me to get what's meant by this sentence? > Let me ask a question about the usage of "leave" in the following > sentence from a novel. [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > Would you help me to get what's meant by this sentence? I'm thinking it means something in the same vein as "fingers leave fingerprints", suggesting potential for connecting the weapon with the crime, the hand to the scene.  SignatureFrank ess > Let me ask a question about the usage of "leave" in the following > sentence from a novel. [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > Would you help me to get what's meant by this sentence? Guns leave bullets, either in the corpse or elsewhere in the crime scene, so valuable information is gathered from the weight and caliber, the markings, etc. so scientists and detectives can do investigations which they hope will lead to capture and conviction. >> Let me ask a question about the usage of "leave" in the following >> sentence from a novel. [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] >the markings, etc. so scientists and detectives can do investigations >which they hope will lead to capture and conviction. "For every contact we make with a place, an object, or even another person, a physical presence is left behind." This has been formulated into a law (according to detective stories) and I'm damned if I can remember whose. SignatureRobin (BrE) Herts, England >>> Let me ask a question about the usage of "leave" in the following >>> sentence from a novel. [quoted text clipped - 39 lines] >This has been formulated into a law (according to detective stories) >and I'm damned if I can remember whose. The Ghostbusters? SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs, who speaks AmE, lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE Robin Bignall wrote... > "For every contact we make with a place, an object, or even > another person, a physical presence is left behind." > > This has been formulated into a law (according to detective > stories) and I'm damned if I can remember whose. This one, perhaps? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locard%27s_exchange_principle SignatureNoel ... who's been reading too many Lincoln Rhyme thrillers recently >Robin Bignall wrote... >> "For every contact we make with a place, an object, or even [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >This one, perhaps? >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locard%27s_exchange_principle Yes, that's the one. Leaving a bullet, or one of your personal calling cards, at a murder site, is just an extreme example. SignatureRobin (BrE) Herts, England > >Robin Bignall wrote... > >> "For every contact we make with a place, an object, or even [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Yes, that's the one. Leaving a bullet, or one of your personal > calling cards, at a murder site, is just an extreme example. Where else should you leave your bullets? Jan >Robin Bignall wrote... >> "For every contact we make with a place, an object, or even [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >This one, perhaps? >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locard%27s_exchange_principle The law forms the cornerstone of forensic science. Half of today's TV detective shows (CSI is an example) would be lost without it, programmes often held together by boring, often gory, detail instead of by plot and character development, IMO. SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs, who speaks AmE, lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE > Let me ask a question about the usage of "leave" in the following > sentence from a novel. [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > Would you help me to get what's meant by this sentence? Yes, the gun fires a bullet, but afterwards, the bullet stays wherever it stopped, while the gun is taken away. The gun has left the bullet, in the same sense as a horse has left a dropping, or a forgetful passenger has left an umbrella. Seeing the one, we know that the other has been here. -- >Let me ask a question about the usage of "leave" in the following >sentence from a novel. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > I'm confused which meaning to pick up for this case. 3. SignatureSteve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk "Tonbei": >> Let me ask a question about the usage of "leave" in the following >> sentence from a novel. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >> everything in it. Understand? >> (the Perican Brief,p26, by J.Chrisham) When you misspell the title and also the author's name, you leave people wondering whether you have copied the sentence correctly. >> Question: about the meaning of "Guns leave bullets". >> 'Leave' has some different meanings as a verb, according to Longman >> 1) go away from a place or a person >> 2) leave somebody/something alone >> 3) to let something remain in a particular state, position, or >> condition Steve Hayes: > 3. It's something between 1 and 3 -- really it's not any of those. The online Merriam-Webster has a better set of definitions at <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/leave>: transitive verb: 1 a (1): bequeath, devise <left a fortune to his son> (2): to have remaining after one's death <leaves a widow and two children> b: to cause to remain as a trace or aftereffect <oil leaves a stain> <the wound left an ugly scar> 2 a: to cause or allow to be or remain in a specified condition <leave the door open> <his manner left me cold> b: to fail to include or take along <left the notes at home> <the movie leaves a lot out> c: to have as a remainder <4 from 7 leaves 3> d: to permit to be or remain subject to another's action or control <just leave everything to me> e: let f: to cause or allow to be or remain available <leave room for expansion> <left myself an out> 3 a: to go away from : depart <leave the room> b: desert, abandon <left his wife> c: to terminate association with : withdraw from <left school before graduation> 4: to put, deposit, or deliver before or in the process of departing <I left a package for you> <leave a message> intransitive verb: set out, depart On this list, it's 1b. And incidentally, it's an unusual thing to say. What the speaker really means is that *using* a gun leaves a bullet. As an assassin, if he has a gun he expects to be using it. That's not true for everyone who carries them. SignatureMark Brader "Thus the metric system did not really catch on Toronto in the States, unless you count the increasing msb@vex.net popularity of the 9 mm bullet." -- Dave Barry My text in this article is in the public domain. |
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