0
Taka Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

Series of items

0 The sentence: 01blockquote
00 The residures found in Peking Man's caves showed that 70 percent of his diet consisted of venision and the other 30 percnt of whatever else he was able to hunt or trap---otter, boar, 11b10 and 12b10 wild sheep, buffalo, rhinocoros, even tiger. 12blockquote
12br
02br
00Why not 'otter, boar, wild sheep, buffalo, rhinocoros, 01b00 and 02b00 even tiger'? 02br
02br
00Well, my understanding is, 'sheep, buffalo, rhinocoros, even tiger' are all modified by 'wild' (i.e. ...and wild ones [ones=sheep, buffalo, rhinocoros, even tiger]), but I'm not sure on this one. 02br
02br
00Am I right or wrong? 0-
  

Top answer

0 The sentence: 02br 00The residues found in Peking Man's caves showed that 70 percent of his diet consisted of venison and the other 30 percent of whatever else he was able to hunt or trap---otter, boar, and wild sheep, buffalo, rhinoceros, even tiger. 02br 02br 02br 00Why not 'otter, boar, wild sheep, buffalo, rhinocoros, and even tiger'? e.

— Ranchhand

  • 0 The sentence: 02br 00The residues found in Peking Man's caves showed that 70 percent of his diet consisted of venison and the other 30 percent of whatever else he was able to hunt or trap---otter, boar, and wild sheep, buffalo, rhinoceros, even tiger.
  • 02br 02br 02br 00Why not 'otter, boar, wild sheep, buffalo, rhinocoros, and even tiger'?
  • e.
  • and wild ones [ones=sheep, buffalo, rhinoceros, even tiger]), but I'm not sure on this one.
  • 02br 02br 00Am I right or wrong?
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

18 Answers
0
0 The sentence: 02br
00The residues found in Peking Man's caves showed that 70 percent of his diet consisted of venison and the other 30 percent of whatever else he was able to hunt or trap---otter, boar, and wild sheep, buffalo, rhinoceros, even tiger. 02br
02br
02br
00Why not 'otter, boar, wild sheep, buffalo, rhinocoros, and even tiger'? 02br
0
0
0Hi Taka--long time, no see. 02br
02br
00I don't think that 'wild' is the key. I myself would have written it as you suggested, with the 'and' appearing only after the penultimate list item; I think perhaps the writer was trying to either (1) make the long list more varied for the reader (a point of style) or (2) indicate that the first two items (otter & boar) were relati
0
0
0 Hmm...do you mean the collocation-01del00wild buffalo, wild rhinocoros, wild tiger02del00-is grammatically imposssible? 0-
0
0
0No-- just that 'wild' is redundant, so it is semantically unexpected. I don't believe Peking Man had any domesticated rhinoceri or tigers. 0-
0
0
0 Isn't it possible to take that 'wild' as something like 'fierce'? Otter and boar shouldn't have been domesticated either. Maybe it's a contrast between 'otter, boar=rather peaceful and/or slow, and relatively easy to catch' vs. 'sheep, buffalo, rhinocoros, even tiger=fierce and/or quick, and hard to catch'. 02br
02br
00What do you think? 0-
0
0
0 Taka wrote: 02br
00Otter and boar shouldn't have been domesticated either. 02br
02br
00RH: Taka, may I ask you a question? My question might seem a bit intrusive but I assure you it is not intended in this fashion. If you don't want to answer, that's fine. 02br
02br
00Do you consider yourself to be an expert or even a person with a great deal
0
0
0 No. I'm not a palaeontologist or anything of that sort. 02br
02br
00What is the point of your question? [:^)] 0-
0
0
0 Thank you, Taka, for your response. 02br
02br
00The reason for my question is this. I believe that something you wrote was possibly, semantically inappropriate for the situation. I viewed it as a valuable teaching moment and I hope you'll view it in the same manner. 02br
02br
00You said: 02br
02br
00"Isn't it possible to take that '
0
0
0 Before I present my comments on your opinion, let me ask if you are a native speaker of English or not. 02br
02br
00What is your nationality, may I ask? 0-
0
0
0 Yes, Taka, I'm a native speaker. I look forward to your comments. 0-
0

Related Questions