Usage examples you wouldn't expect to find in a dictionary

[pauamma]

Comments

[marnanel]

The Welsh dictionary I use has some slightly odd ones, including:

"if he fell into the hands of the secret police" (for "hands")

"do you want me to take my clothes off?" (for "clothes")

Nothing quite as odd as yours, though.

[echosequence]

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

[marnanel]

A friend shares example sentences in a 1920s Arabic manual. ("They practise female infanticide."; "Both of them squint and three of their children are deaf mutes.")

[pauamma]

*blink* Female infanticide is expressly forbidden by the Koran, so I'm really wondering who "they" is referring to in that sentence.

[jesuslovesbono]

maybe non-Muslims?
still...disturbing.

[pauamma]

*nod* This being Egypt, I'm wondering whether it might be (inspired by) a slur aimed at Jews or Copts (or perhaps other flavors of Christians).

[muckefuck]

In high school, my chain-smoking composition teacher used as an example of an adverbial relative clause, "This is the place where I always hide the bodies."

[pikku_gen]

Oh, that brings back memories... On our French syntax class the teacher demonstrated one use of partitive by a sentence "J'ai écrasé notre chat ce matin et il y avait du chat partout sur le pare-brise". Then she laughed a little awkwardly and said "Linguists have a notoriously bad sense of humour, never mind."

a

[runa27]

I don't speak French, so all I've caught is "cat". Somebody care to translate?

[sollersuk]

Not on the subject of usage, but it reminds me of an entry I once found on the old custom of "drawing the pillow" (laying a pneumonia sufferer flat so that they would die quickly):

"I drew the pillow, but nothing happened, so I pinched his nose and we went off like a lamb."

[evilstorm]

It's the last bit that really makes that sentence.

[sollersuk]

Absolutely. It's the whole mindset that has to be considered.