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| Date: | Mon, 29 Jun 1998 19:00:20 -0400 |
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Gordon, I assume you're calling "the sooner . . . the better" (I don't see
any italics) an idiom that you want to know how to parse. Like any idiom,
you can't easily (if at all) take the parts apart. "Kick the bucket," for
instance, can't be parsed as a transitive verb plus a noun phrase. It's a
single unit, though made up of several words. Anyone who's tried to
translate a foreign language knows how difficult (and strange) it is to
translate idioms. Your own "the sooner . .. . the better" is an old
instrumental correlative form (the bigger they are . . . ). I think it's
punctuated properly, as a conjoined clause. I hope this helps.
Max Morenberg
English Department
Miami University
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>Subject: Parsing question
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> One of my students wrote a sentence that uses a common idiom
>that has me questioning how to parse the part in underlined Italics and
>wondering if it requires further punctuation. "This time of my life has
>been the strangest and most stressful I can remember, and the sooner it
>is over the better. Also, how do you feel about idiomatic inclusions in
>writing? I would appreciate your comments.
>Gordon Carmichael
>Texas University State System (English Department)
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><HTML>
> One of my students wrote a sentence
>that uses a common idiom that has me questioning how to parse the part
>in underlined Italics and wondering if it requires further punctuation.
>"This time of my life has been the strangest and most stressful I can
>remember,
><I><U>and the sooner it is over the better</U>. </I>Also, how do you feel
>about idiomatic inclusions in writing? I would appreciate your comments.
><BR>Gordon Carmichael
><BR>Texas University State System (English Department)</HTML>
>
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