Jest / jests

Question

What would you say the correct form would be:
a. "Damn you Oponn, how your jest never chances I"
b. "Damn you Oponn, how your jests never chances I"

I am the adept of a. whereas my friend insists that b. is the correct one.
I would like help in sorting this out, thank you

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

Neither of these make a lot of sense.

What do you mean by "chances I"?

Avangi · Answer

Anonymousa. "**** you Oponn, how your jest never chances I"
b. "**** you Oponn, how your jests never chances I"I prefer the first one. "Jest never chances"
There seems to be agreement of subject and verb.

The second one would sound better as "Jests never chance."

BarbaraPA · Answer

But whatever does it mean??

Anonymous · Answer

Gives me the possibility of winning, something along those lines

Avangi · Answer

Grammar GeekBut whatever does it mean??

I'm still hoping to hear that from the OP.

BarbaraPA · Answer

AnonymousGives me the possibility of winning, something along those lines

I'm sorry, but I still don't understand. Could you use more words to explain what the original thing is supposed to mean.

Your jokes never give me a chance to have a come-back?

I can tell you for sure that "chance" is not a transitive verb, and if it were, then it would be "me" not "I."

Cosmin_parvulescu · Answer

Hey guys, sorry about being late, I posted but the mods probably skipped my response for whatever reason.
I am the OP, made an account, what I meant to say in other words was something along the lines of:
"**** you Oponn, how your games/puns/tricks never give me any chance of winning"

But can I use 'jest' as a word to encompass all the games played by this Oponn ?

What I'm actually asking is can I refer to a variety of puns/tricks/games as a single jest ?

Thank you.

Avangi · Answer

"Games" and "tricks" are sometimes used to describe serious endeavors.

In my opinion, "jest" is alwaysused to describe something which is intended as a joke - although the court jester usually spoke the truth more often than did the kings advisors.

Only you can decide what you mean here. It sounds like your speaker is quite serious!

<< What I'm actually asking is can I refer to a variety of puns/tricks/games as a single jest ?>>

No, I don't think so. I'd use the plural.

But you might consider that the countable "jest" is used infrequently these days (in my opinion).
The uncountable is more common: "He didn't realize that I was speaking in jest."

Welcome to English Forums. Thanks for joining us! [<:o)]

Best regards, - A.

Edit. There's a difference between "a single jest" (countable), and "Your jest[ing] is getting on my nerves." (uncountable)
The uncountable "jest" would be like "Your foolishness is getting on my nerves." If this is what your (highlited) question is asking, then yes, you may use "jest" in the singular as the uncountable. But in my opinion, the usage is rare these days.

Also, I think GG's question remains unanswered:

What is meant by "It never chances I" ??

**** you, Oponn, how your tune never changes!

how your cheating never changes!

Khoff · Answer

"**** you, Oponn!  Your jests never give me a chance!"  is a more understandable way of saying what I think you are trying to say.

Cosmin_parvulescu · Answer

Perhaps a little insight will help, " 'Oponn.' The two-faced Jester of Chance " from "The Gardens of the Moon" ( great book by the way ).

I understand the difference between a single jest, and the action of 'jest[ing]', but my question was whether I could use 'jest' in a special ( poetic perhaps ) way to account for all the actions ( related to jesting ) a person has.

As for GG's question, "It never chances I". It never gives me the oportunity to win, it never gives me the chance to come out victorious from Oponn's pranks, chance is not on my side while he is meddling with *my* destiny for his own amusement.
Not sure if I cleared anything with this

As for " **** you, Oponn, how your tune never changes! ", it could be considered similar, think of it as this way, Oponn's tune is refered here as his whole repertoir, every single song he plays is similar, it never changes. Thus, you may be referring to an unspecified number of tunes.
Likewise, I am refering to an unspecified number of acts in his jest, but using the singular for all of those as jest.

Tell me if I'm making any sense here

Also, sorry for any mistakes that might slip in, english is not my main
Thank you

Jest / jests

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