Re: In spite or because of

From: John Atkinson (johnacko_at_bigpond.com)
Date: 03/21/05 

Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 04:00:10 GMT

"Jacques Guy" <jguy@alphalink.com.au> wrote...

> Miguel Carrasquer wrote:
>
> > Reminds me of the following dialogue, heard in a car:
> >
> > (my mother:) "You can't do a U-turn here!"
> > (my father:) "Nonsense! I just did!"
>
> It's the usual confusion between "can" and "may",
> and that does not help much with the can of words
> that is "in spite or because of".

"Confusion"? "May" is obsolescent in most registers of just about all
dialects of English (certainly including Australian), except as the name
of a month. Of course you're right, the verb "can" has at least three
meanings "be able to", "be permitted to", and "preserve in a sealed
tin-plated container".

The first two meanings are also shared by French "pouvoir" and Russian
"moch' ". Swahili does, however, use different words for them, "kuweza"
and "kuruhusiwa".

John.

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