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SweetFreedom Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
Were my attempts to be reasonable the best way of engaging them or just plain cowardice?
1) Does "Was I a coward to apologise?" mean "Was I a coward who need to apologise?"?
2) Does "Were my attempts to be reasonable the best way of engaging them or just plain cowardice?" mean "Were my attempts to be reasonable the best way of attracting/encouraging them or was I just plain cowardice/lacking courage?"?
Background info:
I staggered up the High Street confused and upset – both at what had happened and at what I had said, and not said. What should I have done? They are ignorant aren’t they? Isn’t that why they’ve come to this city of learning, even if not Oxford University itself – to learn? Was I a coward to apologise? Were my attempts to be reasonable the best way of engaging them or just plain cowardice? Should I have said that the Koran, like the Old Testament, is a foul book full of hatred and violence; that they hold the beliefs they do only because they were infected with this horrible religion when they were too young to object? That they could escape … ?
2) Does "Were my attempts to be reasonable the best way of engaging them or just plain cowardice?" mean "Were my attempts to be reasonable the best way of attracting/encouraging them or was I just plain cowardice/lacking courage?"?
Background info:
I staggered up the High Street confused and upset – both at what had happened and at what I had said, and not said. What should I have done? They are ignorant aren’t they? Isn’t that why they’ve come to this city of learning, even if not Oxford University itself – to learn? Was I a coward to apologise? Were my attempts to be reasonable the best way of engaging them or just plain cowardice? Should I have said that the Koran, like the Old Testament, is a foul book full of hatred and violence; that they hold the beliefs they do only because they were infected with this horrible religion when they were too young to object? That they could escape … ?
Top answer
"? No. "?
- "?
- No.
- "?
- Not quite, I think.
- Were my attempts to be reasonable the best way of talking with them or was I just plain lacking courage ?
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5 Answers
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SweetFreedom1) Does "Was I a coward to apologise?" mean "Was I a coward who need to apologise?"?No. 'Was apologizing an act of cowardice?'
SweetFreedom2) Does "Were my attempts to be reasonable the best way of engaging them or just plain cowardice?" mean "Were my attempts to be reasonable the best way of attracting/encouraging them or
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I could understand 'Was apologizing an act of cowardice?' But how to put "I" in it?
It seems that the author has had no reason to apologize.
Related link:
https://richarddawkins.net/2014/08/a-hundred-walked-out-of-my-lecture/
It seems that the author has had no reason to apologize.
Related link:
https://richarddawkins.net/2014/08/a-hundred-walked-out-of-my-lecture/
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SweetFreedomIt seems that the author has had no reason to apologize.Whether he had reason or not is irrelevant; he did apologize.
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Oh. He apologized. So later he thought he was probably a coward?
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