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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2010I like dogs/ I like a dog
1) I like a dog. 2) I like dogs. I understand like this: 1) means: There is a certain dog I like. 2) means: I'm lover of dogs. And, 1) could mean the same as 2) sometimes. In this case, "a dog" is representative of all. But this usage is rarely used. Do I understand right? >1) I like a dog. >2) I like dogs. [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >Do I understand right? "I like dogs" is just as as you understand it, but I'm having a hard time thinking of a context in which someone might say "I like a dog". You'd almost always say "I like collies" or "I like Jane's dog" or "I like old Wuffles". I suppose you might say "I don't mind walks in the country, but I like a dog to come with me". You'd be unlikely to say simply "I like a dog". (Someone will be along in a moment with a cast-iron common context.)  SignatureKaty Jennison spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @ > >1) I like a dog. > >2) I like dogs. [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > (Someone will be along in a moment with a cast-iron common context.) (Along momentarily) Someone might say "I like a dog" to mean that they like to own a dog. They mean that they like to have a dog about the house, or as a pet, or to take for walks. It's a comment on their preferred way of living. Me, I like to be able to go away at a moment's notice, and a good local pub. -- franzi >>> 1) I like a dog. >>> 2) I like dogs. [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > They mean that they like to have a dog about the house, or as a pet, > or to take for walks. It's a comment on their preferred way of living. I think that's one of those things which are possible but unlikely. Wouldn't the usual way to express that idea be something like "I like having a dog"? I admit I'm not entirely sure why, since we would regularly say "I like a woollen jersey", or "I like a nice cup of tea in the morning."...Actually, the tea may be a clue: I wonder if we would usually avoid "I like a dog" because it might be thought more appropriate for something we'd eat: "I like a kipper", or "I like a hot dog". SignatureMike. >>>> 1) I like a dog. >>>> 2) I like dogs. [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > appropriate for something we'd eat: "I like a kipper", or "I like a hot > dog". I like a cigar but White House shenanigans made it imprudent for me to announce this. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) > > > > > 1) I like a dog. > > > > > 2) I like dogs. [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > I like a cigar but White House shenanigans made it imprudent for me > to announce this. Or as Rudyard Kipling had it: "A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke." Altogether now: 'Do you like Kipling'? DC -- [ ... ] > Altogether now: 'Do you like Kipling'? You naughy boy -- surely it's "all together." SignatureBob Lieblich Whooshed again > [ ... ] > > > Altogether now: 'Do you like Kipling'? > > You naughy boy -- surely it's "all together." Are you there, Skitt? -- >> [ ... ] >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Are you there, Skitt? S'a glo'al stop, innit? SignatureLes (BrE) > >> [ ... ] > >> [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > S'a glo'al stop, innit? I thought it was that Scottish bloke on the Today programme. -- > Robert Lieblich wrote: >>> Altogether now: 'Do you like Kipling'? >> >> You naughy boy -- surely it's "all together." > > Are you there, Skitt? Yup, and Bob is altogether correct. SignatureSkitt (AmE) > > Robert Lieblich wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Yup, and Bob is altogether correct. Well, one of you is going to have to tell me what 'naughy' means in that case. DC -- >>>>> Altogether now: 'Do you like Kipling'? >>>> [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Well, one of you is going to have to tell me what 'naughy' means in > that case. Oh man, I didn't even notice that, concentrating on the "all together" vs. "altogether" matter. I need another cup of coffee. SignatureSkitt (AmE) > >>>>> Altogether now: 'Do you like Kipling'? > >>>> [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > Oh man, I didn't even notice that, concentrating on the "all together" vs. > "altogether" matter. I need another cup of coffee. I need something stronger. SignatureBob Lieblich Waiting for the Decade of the Naughs to end on 12/31/10 (Euro 31/12/10) >> >>>>> Altogether now: 'Do you like Kipling'? >> >>>> [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > >I need something stronger. No, just a little 't'. SignatureRobin (BrE) Herts, England > > >>>>> Altogether now: 'Do you like Kipling'? > > > > > > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > I need something stronger. Never mind, have one on me. DC -- >> > > > > 1) I like a dog. >> > > > > 2) I like dogs. [quoted text clipped - 49 lines] > > Altogether now: 'Do you like Kipling'? Well, I do enjoy kipple a bit, but I don't have a doctorate in it. I guess because I don't call myself a garbologist. > >>> > > > 1) I like a dog. > >>> > > > 2) I like dogs. [quoted text clipped - 44 lines] > Well, I do enjoy kipple a bit, but I don't have a doctorate in it. I > guess because I don't call myself a garbologist. I've just looked up the sci-fi writer who invented the term 'kipple'. Let's not even think about making that gag.... DC -- > Altogether now: 'Do you like Kipling'? An older joke than I had thought. I see it in the August, 1917 _Bulletin of Pharmacy_. SignatureEvan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------ HP Laboratories |When you rewrite a compiler from 1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |scratch, you sometimes fix things Palo Alto, CA 94304 |you didn't know were broken. | Larry Wall kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com (650)857-7572 http://www.kirshenbaum.net/ >>>> 1) I like a dog. >>>> 2) I like dogs. [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > appropriate for something we'd eat: "I like a kipper", or "I like a > hot dog". That's the one. I like a pork chop. I like a tuna steak. I like a dog. SignatureJohn Dean Oxford >>1) I like a dog. >>2) I like dogs. [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > >(Someone will be along in a moment with a cast-iron common context.) Well-adjusted woman: "I like having a man around the house". Grumpy old lady, in response: "I like a dog". SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs, An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE > Well-adjusted woman: "I like having a man around the house". > Grumpy old lady, in response: "I like a dog". Relaxed, happy old lady who has tried both: "I not only like a dog, I prefer one." SignatureErilar, biblioholic medievalist http://www.chibardun.net/~erilarlo >> Well-adjusted woman: "I like having a man around the house". >> Grumpy old lady, in response: "I like a dog". > >Relaxed, happy old lady who has tried both: "I not only like a dog, I >prefer one." Dog, slowly waking to what is going on, goes woof, woof. SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs, An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE > 1) I like a dog. > 2) I like dogs. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > 1) means: There is a certain dog I like. > 2) means: I'm lover of dogs. ^ a > And, 1) could mean the same as 2) sometimes. > In this case, "a dog" is representative of all. You can keep pushing this idea with different examples as much as you want, but it still isn't idiomatic. > But this usage is rarely used. > > Do I understand right? Yes. It is used sometimes, for example in poetry: "A thing of beauty is a joy forever" but I really wouldn't use it if you're a non-native speaker. DC -- >> 1) I like a dog. >> 2) I like dogs. [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > You can keep pushing this idea with different examples as much as you > want, but it still isn't idiomatic. It can, in my opinion, be idiomatic if you make the sentence a bit heavier: I like a dog that knows how to hunt. I like a dog who's content to just sit by the fire. I like a playful dog. I like a dog to snuggle up against when it's cold. Or, in another sense I like a dog with mustard, relish, onions, and peppers. SignatureEvan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------ HP Laboratories |When correctly viewed, 1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 | Everything is lewd. Palo Alto, CA 94304 |I could tell you things | about Peter Pan, kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com |and the Wizard of Oz-- (650)857-7572 | there's a dirty old man! | Tom Lehrer http://www.kirshenbaum.net/ >>> 1) I like a dog. >>> 2) I like dogs. [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > I like a dog with mustard, relish, onions, and peppers. "a dog _who's_ content"? Underlining, my own. SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs, An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE >>It can, in my opinion, be idiomatic if you make the sentence a bit >>heavier: [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > "a dog _who's_ content"? Underlining, my own. Yeah. I don't have a problem using "who" for animals, especially domestic ones. I know that some people do. SignatureEvan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------ HP Laboratories |Feeling good about government is like 1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |looking on the bright side of any Palo Alto, CA 94304 |catastrophe. When you quit looking |on the bright side, the catastrophe kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com |is still there. (650)857-7572 | P.J. O'Rourke http://www.kirshenbaum.net/ > "a dog _who's_ content"? Underlining, my own. It depends on your attitude toward dogs. My Gretl is definitely a "who", as is Jessie, the dog next door, and many others I have known. SignatureErilar, biblioholic medievalist http://www.chibardun.net/~erilarlo >> "a dog _who's_ content"? Underlining, my own. > >It depends on your attitude toward dogs. My Gretl is definitely a >"who", as is Jessie, the dog next door, and many others I have known. I'd personify an animal, as I have, before I'd refer to it as a "who" in an English usage newsgroup, where the language tends towards the formal. SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs, An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE >1) I like a dog. >2) I like dogs. [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >Do I understand right? No. 1) isn't a restricted way of saying 2). IN fact, the only circumstance in which I could imagine using 1) (except to mean something different entirely, such as my food preferences) would be to contrast my position with that suggested by 2). "Do you like dogs?" "Well, I like *a* dog - my brother's labrador is sweet..." (implied but not stated, something along the lines of "...but mostly I can't stand the things.") Cheers - Ian (BrE: Yorks., Hants.) |
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