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Discussion Groups / English Usage / September 2010Baldacci: extraordinary
Hello: Shouldn't this be: "His job had not involved [the] normal; it had encompassed [the] extraordinary"? ---- Ross had seen thousands of faces just like that and had paid little attention to any of them. His job had not involved normal; it had encompassed extraordinary. David Baldacci, Stone Cold ---- -- Thanks. Marius Hancu > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > attention to any of them. His job had not involved normal; it had > encompassed extraordinary. I read this as: - His job had not involved "normal"; it had encompassed "extraordinary".  SignatureDavid >> Shouldn't this be: >> "His job had not involved [the] normal; it had encompassed [the] [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > - His job had not involved "normal"; it had encompassed > "extraordinary". Yes. There is probably a reference to the words, or to "normal", at least, in the text not too far before the quoted passage. For a stand-alone sentence in standard English, I agree with your suggestion. Marius Hancu asks about: >> Ross had seen thousands of faces just like that and had paid little >> attention to any of them. His job had not involved normal; it had >> encompassed extraordinary. "David" answers: > I read this as: > > - His job had not involved "normal"; it had encompassed "extraordinary". Right. As I said in the "Meyer: as in" thread, In informal usage it's common to omit quotation marks that express a use/mention distinction. SignatureMark Brader, Toronto | "Strange commas are enshrined in msb@vex.net | the US Constitution." --James Hogg > Hello: > Shouldn't this be: > "His job had not involved [the] normal; it had encompassed [the] > extraordinary"? Either is correct, but the feeling is quite different to my ear. I prefer the quoted version as it feels to me as if it is more expansive. > ---- > Ross had seen thousands of faces just like that and had paid little > attention to any of them. His job had not involved normal; it had > encompassed extraordinary. SignatureWhen we woke up that morning we had no way of knowing that in a matter of hours we'd changed the way we were going. Where would I be now? Where would I be now if we'd never met? Would I be singing this song to someone else instead? |
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