Took me a while to figure out

Discuss any questions in English. Practise your writing skills.

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acapnotic
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#1

Сообщение acapnotic »

Only a time traveler knows how like the wild murals and engravings of them some of the ancients can look.

I had to read the sentence a dozen times before I made sense of it. What about you, guys?

Obviously it works like this:

X is like Y.
How like Y is X?
Only Z knows how like Y X is.


It still sounds a bit weird to me. I'd rather say "Only Z knows how much like Y X is."
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#2

Сообщение Michelangelo »

Weird it is, so what? Maybe it is a style of Yoda, isn't it?
acapnotic пишет: 29 окт 2020, 11:49 Only a time traveler knows how like the wild murals and engravings of them some of the ancients can look.
Isn't it "How some of the ancients can look like the wild murals and engravings of them?"
Последний раз редактировалось Michelangelo 29 окт 2020, 12:01, всего редактировалось 1 раз.
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#3

Сообщение Mary May »

acapnotic пишет: 29 окт 2020, 11:49 It still sounds a bit weird to me.
I'd rather say "Only Z knows how much like Y X is."
??? The single word you added is "much". Does it really make a world of difference to you?
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#4

Сообщение acapnotic »

Mary May пишет: 29 окт 2020, 11:54 Does it really make a world of difference to you?
Well, not a world maybe, but a difference. For some reason it seems more logical.
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#5

Сообщение Mary May »

My guess is, with "much" it's more about the extent of likeliness; without - more about likeliness as it is (?)
IMHO

What are you reading?
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#6

Сообщение Michelangelo »

I may guess that there was a time traveller, and he was looking at some of the ancients, and thought "Gosh! How they look like the wild murals and engravings of them!"
Последний раз редактировалось Michelangelo 29 окт 2020, 12:11, всего редактировалось 1 раз.
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#7

Сообщение acapnotic »

Mary May пишет: 29 окт 2020, 12:00 What are you reading?
The Big Time by Fritz Leiber. An American writer.
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#8

Сообщение Mary May »

Like, "They do look like the engravings of them. They really do. Full stop. "
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#9

Сообщение acapnotic »

Michelangelo, your guess is right, of course. The ancient girl was also a time traveler, though. A time warrior, to be more precise.
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#10

Сообщение acapnotic »

Mary May, what would you be more likely to say: "X is very like Y" or "X is very much like Y"?
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#11

Сообщение Chaika »

Awkward. A good editor would have fixed this.
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#12

Сообщение acapnotic »

The Soldiers that come through the Door are looking for a good time, sure, but they're hurt real bad too, every one of them, deep down in their minds and hearts, if not always in their bodies or so you can see it right away.

This one still puzzles me. How is the 'or so' part supposed to work?
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#13

Сообщение Chaika »

not hurt in their bodies, or [=то есть] hurt in such a way that you can see it right away.
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#14

Сообщение Michelangelo »

acapnotic пишет: 29 окт 2020, 14:11 in their bodies or so
acapnotic пишет: 29 окт 2020, 14:11 deep down in their minds and hearts
Bodily injuries could be seen, or if there are no bodily injuries, then they could be injured mentally, which could also be seen by first glance very often. IMHO
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#15

Сообщение Mary May »

Chaika пишет: 29 окт 2020, 14:28 not hurt in their bodies, or [=то есть] hurt in such a way that you can see it right away.
A bit of strange - isn't it? - that their physical injures are less visible than mental (?) ones.
(if I get it right)
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#16

Сообщение Michelangelo »

acapnotic пишет: 29 окт 2020, 14:11 if not always in their bodies or so you can see it right away.
I think it must have meant "They were not always injured physically, but they could often have been injured mentally, which was visible even more often even in those who were physically intact."
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#17

Сообщение acapnotic »

Chaika пишет: 29 окт 2020, 14:28 not hurt in their bodies, or [=то есть] hurt in such a way that you can see it right away.
That is, the 'or' part clarifies the meaning of the phrase 'hurt in the bodies'? But why is this clarification needed? Everyone knows that injuries in the body are more evident than mental ones.

Maybe the logic there is like this: not(A or B) = not A and not B. That is, they were not always hurt in the bodies and not always in such a way that can be seen right away (if they were hurt mentally).
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#18

Сообщение Michelangelo »

It seems to me I could see it now

OR SO here is "if not always in their bodies [or so] or somehow otherwise that you can see it right away.

I.e. even if you cannot always see their injuries, they are still hurt real bad too, every one of them, deep down in their minds and hearts
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#19

Сообщение acapnotic »

Michelangelo пишет: 29 окт 2020, 15:32 It seems to me I could see it now
We definitely can't always see the meaning of English sentences right away. :)
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#20

Сообщение Kind_Punk »

acapnotic пишет: 29 окт 2020, 11:49 Only a time traveler knows how like the wild murals and engravings of them some of the ancients can look.
Only a time traveler knows in which way some of ancients can look (at? or see?) the wild murals and engravings of them.

Only a time traveler knows if some of the ancients look like the wild murals and engravings of them.


Brainfreaking )
acapnotic пишет: 29 окт 2020, 14:11 The Soldiers that come through the Door are looking for a good time, sure, but they're hurt real bad too, every one of them, deep down in their minds and hearts, if not always in their bodies or so you can see it right away.
The Soldiers that come through the Door are looking for a good time, sure, but they're hurt real bad too, every one of them, deep down in their minds and hearts, if not always in their bodies or something like that (head, limbs), so you can see it right away.
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#21

Сообщение Chaika »

acapnotic пишет: 29 окт 2020, 14:11 ... hurt real bad too, every one of them, deep down in their minds and hearts, if not always in their bodies or so you can see it right away.
Read this as
... hurt real bad ...
if not always in their bodies,
другими словами, where the hurt is plainly visible.
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#22

Сообщение Michelangelo »

Kind_Punk пишет: 29 окт 2020, 16:36 Only a time traveler knows in which way some of ancients can look (at? or see?) the wild murals and engravings of them.

Only a time traveler knows if some of the ancients look like the wild murals and engravings of them.
Are they of the same meaning? Or you just don't know what is correct?
Kind_Punk пишет: 29 окт 2020, 16:36 if not always in their bodies or something like that (head, limbs), so you can see it right away.
You try to make to figure it out even more difficult, or so?
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#23

Сообщение Kind_Punk »

Michelangelo пишет: 29 окт 2020, 17:17 Are they of the same meaning?
No )
Michelangelo пишет: 29 окт 2020, 17:17 Or you just don't know what is correct?
30/70, so to say )
Michelangelo пишет: 29 окт 2020, 17:17 even more difficult
IMHO, otherwise )
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#24

Сообщение Yety »

Chaika пишет: 29 окт 2020, 12:43 have fixed this.
And easily(?):
>Only a time traveler knows how like the wild murals and engravings of them some of the ancients can look.
—> Only a time traveler knows how much some of the ancients can look like the wild murals and engravings of them.
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#25

Сообщение acapnotic »

Probably the editor didn't have trouble understanding the sentence. Besides, it's a character's speech, not the author's. The narrator is one of the characters.
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