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Taka Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

Until

That device was not widely used until well into the 20th century.

Is it safe to say that the sentence above is an ellipsis of "That device was not widely used until it was well into the 20th century"?
  

Top answer

I don't see any elision.

— Mister Micawber

  • I don't see any elision.
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9 Answers
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So is "until into" the same kind of double preposition as,say, "till after the meeting"?
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Yes, those ring the same to me.
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Good! I initially thought so. Thanks, MM!
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TakaSo is "until into" the same kind of double preposition as,say, "till after the meeting"?
‘Double preposition’ suggests that it’s a single word, but if that were the case then it wouldn’t be possible to separate it (until well into). Until into (as well as till after) is not a preposition; it’s two prepositions which each head their own
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Aspara GusDouble preposition’ suggests that it’s a single word, but if that were the case then it wouldn’t be possible to separate it (until well into). Until into (as well as till after) is not a preposition; it’s two prepositions which each head their own PP: until well into the 20th century and well into the 20th century. The into-PP functions as complement within the
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TakaI think we are talking about the same thing.
Oh. Then that makes me wonder why you used the term ‘double preposition’.
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Just because it was "prep+prep", a double. I didn't take the possibility of separation into account.
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In my view, this is an example of ellipsis, which is very often seen in English. The complete sentence would be something like: "That device was not widely used until a time well into the 20th century."

One could make the argument that this is not ellipsis, but then the analysis of the sentence become almost impossibly complex and jury-rigged, which is the result of trying to discount
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