Re: 'together vs. to gather'
| From: | Doug Dee <amateurlinguist@...> |
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| Date: | Monday, January 19, 2004, 0:07 |
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In a message dated 1/18/2004 6:01:19 PM Eastern Standard Time,
hotblack@FRATH.NET writes:
>I dont see anything in the semantics of "massacre" that require a plural
>anywhere...
This may vary by dialect/idiolect. Many people find "General Custer
massacred an Indian here" to be strange to the point of ungrammaticality, on the
grounds that it isn't a "massacre" unless a whole bunch of victims are involved.
So, he could massacre "a hundred Indians", or "a tribe", but not "an Indian."
Your judgments may vary.
I hope I haven't started an English dialect thread . . .
Doug
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