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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2010Morrison: even sputtered
Hello: What is the meaning of "even" here? Its usage, combined with "only" confuses me, even though I think I know what the author meant:-) which is probably: "Only one or two were able to barely sputter." --- [In a cave, trying to light matches] Milkman had not flashlight and his matches were certaninly wet, but he tried to find a dry one anyway. Only one or two even sputtered. Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon, p. 251 --- -- Thanks. Marius Hancu >Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >Milkman had not flashlight and his matches were certaninly wet, but he >tried to find a dry one anyway. Only one or two even sputtered. I wouldn't use "able" in describing what a match does. I take the meaning as "Only one or two did as much as sputter". The usage really speaks more to the rest of the matches. They didn't do that much.  SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida > >What is the meaning of "even" here? Its usage, combined with "only" > >confuses me, even though I think I know what the author meant:-) [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > meaning as "Only one or two did as much as sputter". The usage really > speaks more to the rest of the matches. They didn't do that much. OK. However, your "Only one or two did as much as sputter" seems to me better/clearer than the original "Only one or two even sputtered" which is based on some collateral meaning of "even" which I'm not quite sure of. I wonder how others feel about it. Thanks. Marius Hancu > > >What is the meaning of "even" here? Its usage, combined with "only" > > >confuses me, even though I think I know what the author meant:-) [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > I wonder how others feel about it. Morrison's formulation seems normal to me, and I like its concision. -- Jerry Friedman > > > >What is the meaning of "even" here? Its usage, combined with "only" > > > >confuses me, even though I think I know what the author meant:-) [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > Morrison's formulation seems normal to me, and I like its concision. Fine. Now, to you, are "even" and "as much as" equivalents? Never found this definition for "even." Thanks. Marius Hancu > > > > >What is the meaning of "even" here? Its usage, combined with "only" > > > > >confuses me, even though I think I know what the author meant:-) [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > "even" and "as much as" > equivalents? In certain circumstances. It didn't even sputter. It didn't as much as sputter. (Though I'd probably make the first "as" a "so".) > Never found this definition for "even." It's the same one as in "I didn't even see them." This sense of "even" is what John Lawler [*] calls a Negative-Polarity Item, and the "only" is a Negative-Polarity Trigger, as in "Only one of them (even) budged" and "Only one of them did anything." I think. [*] And lots of other linguists, but to name is to summon. -- Jerry Friedman > > > > > >Milkman had not flashlight and his matches were certainly wet, but he > > > > > >tried to find a dry one anyway. Only one or two even sputtered. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > It didn't even sputter. > It didn't as much as sputter. I have no problem with the last two, but I still have a difficulty with the original. I've no idea why. Thanks. Marius Hancu > > > "Only one or two even sputtered" > > > which is based on some collateral meaning of "even" which I'm not > > > quite sure of. [snip] > Never found this definition for "even." > > Thanks. > Marius Hancu MW11 tries here, under even 3 - adverb: 2a -- used as an intensive to emphasize the identity or character of something <forgot his car keys and even left the engine running> b -- used as an intensive to stress an extreme or highly unlikely condition or instance <so simple even a child can do it> c -- used as an intensive to stress the comparative degree <she did even better> d -- used as an intensive to indicate a small or minimum amount <didn't even try> SignatureBest -- Donna Richoux > What is the meaning of "even" here? Its usage, combined with "only" > confuses me, even though I think I know what the author meant:-) > Milkman had not flashlight and his matches were certaninly wet, but he > tried to find a dry one anyway. Only one or two even sputtered. It implies an unspoken negative statement about doing anything more. None of them lit; only one or two even sputtered. ¬R > > What is the meaning of "even" here? Its usage, combined with "only" > > confuses me, even though I think I know what the author meant:-) [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > It implies an unspoken negative statement about doing anything more. > None of them lit; only one or two even sputtered. OK, but this seems different in meaning from Tony Cooper's "Only one or two did as much as sputter" right, which to me seem the clearest in this context. Thanks. Marius Hancu >> > What is the meaning of "even" here? Its usage, combined with "only" >> > confuses me, even though I think I know what the author meant:-) [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >"Only one or two did as much as sputter" >right, which to me seem the clearest in this context. To me Tony and Glenn's versions mean the same, as does: "Only one or two even did as much as sputter" or "...did as much as even sputter". SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) > To me Tony and Glenn's versions mean the same, as does: "Only one or two > even did as much as sputter" or "...did as much as even sputter". What I was getting at is that this is an inversion of a statement using "not even," and as such it pretty strictly implies a statement that the one or two that sputtered just barely did so, and didn't do what was desired. A fully explicit statement of what was meant might be: None of the matches lit. One or two of them sputtered, and the rest didn't even do that. If any of them did anything more, they'd normally be explicitly excluded from a positive "even" clause: Only one match lit, and only a couple more even sputtered. ¬R |
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