0
Henry74 Posted 13 years ago
Vocabulary
Double take
Hello,
is "double take" used for visual recognition? Can you please tell me if it is used correctly in the following sentence?
- Three times today I did a double take on some random guy in the street taking him at first for a famous chess player.
What I mean to say is that I would first register the guy out of the corner of my eye as this famous chess player and then, a little surprised, I would turn my head and find out that it was not him.
Also, is "taking him" correct, or should it be "taking them"?
Thank you
H.
is "double take" used for visual recognition? Can you please tell me if it is used correctly in the following sentence?
- Three times today I did a double take on some random guy in the street taking him at first for a famous chess player.
What I mean to say is that I would first register the guy out of the corner of my eye as this famous chess player and then, a little surprised, I would turn my head and find out that it was not him.
Also, is "taking him" correct, or should it be "taking them"?
Thank you
H.
Top answer
You're pretty much on the money. The only awkwardness to the sentence is the ambiguity (to me anyway) between you looking at some random guy 3 times or looking at three random guys twice each. If you are referring to one random guy I would go so far as to use "triple take".
- You're pretty much on the money.
- The only awkwardness to the sentence is the ambiguity (to me anyway) between you looking at some random guy 3 times or looking at three random guys twice each.
- If you are referring to one random guy I would go so far as to use "triple take".
- as for "taking him" it looks fine to me, though I have heard taking them used for a singular as well.
- Who knows?
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
5 Answers
0
You're pretty much on the money. The only awkwardness to the sentence is the ambiguity (to me anyway) between you looking at some random guy 3 times or looking at three random guys twice each. If you are referring to one random guy I would go so far as to use "triple take".
as for "taking him" it looks fine to me, though I have heard taking them used for a singular as well. Who knows?
as for "taking him" it looks fine to me, though I have heard taking them used for a singular as well. Who knows?
00
Henry74Three times today I did a double take on some random guy in the street taking him at first for a famous chess player.That's fine.
Henry74Also, is "taking him" correct, or should it be "taking them"?Him is correct if you are talking about one man.
00
I wanted refer to three different guys at different times of day.
I think I should say "[...] on some random guys in the street, taking them...", correct?
H.
I think I should say "[...] on some random guys in the street, taking them...", correct?
H.
00
0
Related Questions