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Russkiy Bear Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Quote from the TV show Terra Nova
Here's the scene.
Two teens are sitting at a bank of a river and cutting some cretaceous fruits for moonshine.
The guy: What is this? (meaning the thing he's cutting the fruits with)
The girl: It's the barb from slasher tail.
slasher is a nickname for a kind of dinosaur.
Why does she say the barb not a barb?Clearly from the conversation, it's never been mentioned before, no shared knowledge, no implication, nothing. She uses the. Why?
Two teens are sitting at a bank of a river and cutting some cretaceous fruits for moonshine.
The guy: What is this? (meaning the thing he's cutting the fruits with)
The girl: It's the barb from slasher tail.
slasher is a nickname for a kind of dinosaur.
Why does she say the barb not a barb?Clearly from the conversation, it's never been mentioned before, no shared knowledge, no implication, nothing. She uses the. Why?
Top answer
Are you sure it doesn't say "It's the barb from a slasher tail"? "the barb" implies that each slasher tail has only one barb. Therefore, even though it's not been mentioned before, we do in a sense know "which one it is", as there is only one (per tail).
- Are you sure it doesn't say "It's the barb from a slasher tail"?
- "the barb" implies that each slasher tail has only one barb.
- Therefore, even though it's not been mentioned before, we do in a sense know "which one it is", as there is only one (per tail).
- "a barb" could be used whether the tail has several barbs or just one.
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3 Answers
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Are you sure it doesn't say "It's the barb from a slasher tail"?
"the barb" implies that each slasher tail has only one barb. Therefore, even though it's not been mentioned before, we do in a sense know "which one it is", as there is only one (per tail).
"a barb" could be used whether the tail has several barbs or just one.
"the barb" implies that each slasher tail has only one barb. Therefore, even though it's not been mentioned before, we do in a sense know "which one it is", as there is only one (per tail).
"a barb" could be used whether the tail has several barbs or just one.
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GPY"a barb" could be used whether the tail has several barbs or just one.Oh that's interesting. Let me ask this
The show that was shown on ABC yesterday at 7 pm was great
I can still say a show...?
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Russkiy BearOh that's interesting. Let me ask thisThe show that was shown on ABC yesterday at 7 pm was greatI can still say a show...?"A show" would be rather unusual in that sentence.
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