Re: Is the bank closed already or closed still?

From: Joshua A. Reyer (reyer_at_benchsumo.zzn.com)
Date: 03/13/05 

Date: Sun, 13 Mar 2005 07:55:22 -0600

...and as I'm a moron, here is the previous post in the proper encoding:

Konrad Den Ende wrote:

> Regard the following sentence, please.
>
> $B6d9T$,$b$&JD$^$C$F$$$^$9!#(B
>
> Would you say that
>
> a) the bank has closed already (as in: Konrad runs up to
> the door, all sweaty, red in the face and spreading
> horror among people around by his swearing and
> uninterpretable babbling in a strange language nobody
> except a few Sweeds comprehend),
>
> b) the bank is still closed (as in: the bum sleeping outside
> is in fact the above mentioned Konrad that stubbornly
> refused to leave the site and choosed to rather camp
> there than get back home with no arrend accomplished),
>
> c) any of the above (as in: the language of Japan likes to
> be depending on the context, so we have to discover it's
> properties by inquiring some of the horrified people who
> recently flew the sceen near the bank),
>
> d) none of the above (as in: the language of Japan likes
> to put up some nasty and confusing exceptions to
> complicate the poor Konrads life despite his troubles in
> the financial sector).
>
>

I like mostly c), with a bit of b) thrown in.

The sentence, to me, seems likely in this kind of exchange.

Josh and Konrad are out in Ikebukuro...

Josh (checks wallet): $B$7$^$C$?!"%-%c%C%7%e$,$J$$!#(B

Konrad: $B6d9T$G$*$m$;$P!)(B

Josh: $B$=$&$@$M!#(B(checks watch) $B$"$C!"6d9T$O$b$&JD$^$C$F$k$@$m!*(B

Whereas, in the a) example, I think:

$B$/$=!*6d9T$,$b$&JD$^$C$?!*(B might be more appropriate, with $BJD$^$C$F$$$k(B
as a viable alternative.

Really it seems you have the choice of describing a state ($BJD$^$C$F$$(B
$B$k(B), or an action ($BJD$^$C$?(B). I don't know if either is wrong so much
as they are just two different ways of expressing a situation.

But I'm a non-native speaker, and what's more, an American, so I'm
perforce speaking out of my ass, as is our wont.

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