Re: composite preposition with two opposite meanings

"in case of" could mean either of your interpretations in this case,
actually, because articles are generally omitted in such expressions
(aren't they).

to me, "in the case of" usually refers to situations where, say.,
someone is giving examples: e.g. "while with X this product behaves
like this, in the case of Y such an effect is totally non-existent".

2006/7/29, Eric Christopherson <rakko@...>:
> I forgot about another expression where the presence or absence of
> "the" matters - "in case of" vs. "in the case of."  "Wear galoshes in
> case of rain" means to wear galoshes regardless of whether it
> actually rains or not, because it might; whereas "wear galoshes in
> the case of rain" means only to wear them if it does in fact rain.
>
> (Actually, maybe I'm wrong; the second sentence sounds strange to me
> now.  I think I would have to change it to "in the case of rain, wear
> galoshes" or even "in the case of it raining, wear galoshes" for it
> to sound natural.  Also it just occurred to me that "in the case
> of ..." usually seems to refer back to something already mentioned,
> whereas "in case of ..." doesn't necessarily.  Still, it always
> strikes me as odd when I see a fire alarm switch with the message "In
> case of fire break glass and pull handle," because I interpret that
> to mean that, in any event, I should break the glass, just in case a
> fire breaks out :) )
>