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Pructus Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

On his back

Hello....

Returning home after losing a presidential bid, he had a target on his back...

*****

Can we change the underlined part to “on his back, he had a target” without changing the meaning? Without caring about grammar books or theories, what is natives’s sense of English here?
  

Top answer

pructus Can we change the underlined part to “on his back, he had a target” without changing the meaning? No. It is an expression meaning that he was subject to ridicule, personal attacks, derision, and other forms of hateful speech.

— AlpheccaStars

  • pructus Can we change the underlined part to “on his back, he had a target” without changing the meaning?
  • No.
  • It is an expression meaning that he was subject to ridicule, personal attacks, derision, and other forms of hateful speech.
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4 Answers
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pructusCan we change the underlined part to “on his back, he had a target” without changing the meaning?
No.

It is an expression meaning that he was subject to ridicule, personal attacks, derision, and other forms of hateful speech.
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Thanks so much, AlpheccaStars!!

To make it clearer to me....

If we erase the seemingly irrelevant parts, and make it simpler as, “(A) He has a target on his back”, then, “(B) On his back he has a target” is awkward or not allowed, if it is intended to mean (A)?

I should have posted the sentence in a simpler form...
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It is a fixed expression. Fixed expressions, like idioms, can't be changed.

He has a target on his back.
He is being targeted...

She has a bee in her bonnet. (Cannot be changed to "In her bonnet, she has a bee.")
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I see... I see...
Now it's crystal clear to me...
Thanks so much again, AlpheccaStars!!
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