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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Fell down dead
How do you see the last three words in this sentence?
"The poor little monkey fell down dead."
Is it "fell down//dead", or an idiom, "fell down dead", meaning "died suddenly"?
Is "fell" an action verb there?
"The poor little monkey fell down dead."
Is it "fell down//dead", or an idiom, "fell down dead", meaning "died suddenly"?
Is "fell" an action verb there?
Top answer
Anonymous How do you see the last three words in this sentence? It's ambiguous. He may have died suddenly and then fell down.
- Anonymous How do you see the last three words in this sentence?
- It's ambiguous.
- He may have died suddenly and then fell down.
- He may have fallen down and then died suddenly.
- The death probably occurred very soon before or after the fall.
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2 Answers
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AnonymousHow do you see the last three words in this sentence?It's ambiguous. He may have died suddenly and then fell down. He may have fallen down and then died suddenly. The death probably occurred very soon before or after the fall.
I see it as literal falling, not as an idiom. In contrast, to fall ill (to become ill) is an idiom withou
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Hi,
Generally speaking, I see 'He fell down dead' as meaning that he was dead before he hit the ground.
Compare 'He fell down and died'.
Clive
Generally speaking, I see 'He fell down dead' as meaning that he was dead before he hit the ground.
Compare 'He fell down and died'.
Clive
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