Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:49:52 -0400 From: Bob Hall <rjhjr0@gmail.com> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: I hate to bitch but bitch I must Message-ID: <20091017034952.GA26451@stainmore> In-Reply-To: <200910170234.n9H2YeRI077329@asarian-host.net> References: <4AD8EB8F.9010900@videotron.ca> <20091017010758.088b8b8c.freebsd@edvax.de> <4AD9016E.20302@videotron.ca> <4AD90946.4020204@ibctech.ca> <4AD91DE0.3030701@videotron.ca> <200910170234.n9H2YeRI077329@asarian-host.net>
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On Sat, Oct 17, 2009 at 02:34:40AM +0000, Mark wrote: > Actually, this has got very little to do with being a native English > speaker or not. It's ere a matter of intonation (which, in writing, can > only be conveyed to a certain degree, of course). 'Should' can certainly > mean "Don't try that." As in: > > Will the ice hold me? > Well, technically it should. > > (Meaning: it probably will, but I'm not overly confident.) Actually, what's happening here is dropping part of a sentence. It's common in English to shorten Yea, it should work, but it doesn't. to Yea, it should work. In order to catch the meaning, you have to be aware of context. Contrary to the OP's claim, this shows a pretty good grasp of English idiom. It's definitely not evidence that the man author is not a native speaker of English. On the other hand, it can be clarified so that the meaning is clear even without context. If the OP really believes that the present wording is a problem, other people have made suggestions on what to do about it.
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