Re: CHAT: Definite/Indefinite Article Distinction

Quoting Joe <joe@...>:

> From: "Philip Newton" <Philip.Newton@...>
> > On 7 Sep 02, at 20:44, Roberto Suarez Soto wrote:
> >
> > > Here, "uno" doesn't mean "one" or "a", but more "oneself". So, "no
> > > tener uno hombre" could be pedantically translated to "not to have
> > > oneself a man", or simply "not to have (got?) a man for oneself". In
> > > fact, you could strip the "uno", and it will make perfect sense. I
> > > don't even know if "oneself" is correct in english, but you get the
> > > idea :-)
> >
> > It's correct. "One has to look out for oneself", etc.
> > [snip]
> If you're a posh git, yes ;-)
I don't see why using "one" or "oneself" as a pronoun is pretentious,
per se.  The ability to master different registers of the language is
important, afterall.  This phrasing is simply inappropriate on lower
level registers.

 =========================================================================
Thomas Wier            "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally,
Dept. of Linguistics    because our secret police don't get it right
University of Chicago   half the time." -- octogenarian Sheikh Zayed of
1010 E. 59th Street     Abu Dhabi, to a French reporter.
Chicago, IL 60637