LINGUIST List 7.1203

Sat Aug 31 1996

Qs: Proverbial sayings, Metaphors, Ambiguous sentences

Editor for this issue: Ann Dizdar <dizdartam2000.tamu.edu>

Directory

1. Bert Peeters, Connotations of proverbial sayings
2. Mark O Sondrol, Metaphors
3. Eung-Cheon Hah, Ambiguous or unambiguous ?

The French proverbial saying "menager la chevre et le chou" tends to
have a negative overtone; it's the sort of behavior that is
discouraged in French (cf. also "donner une reponse de Normand", "ne
pas vouloir se mouiller"; source: Christine Beal, in *Langue
francaise* 98, 1993). How about the English saying "to sit on the
fence" (which is translated by Collins/Robert as "menager la chevre et
le chou")? Is it good or bad, in English, to sit on the fence? Does
the saying have a positive or a negative connotation? I thank the
readership in advance for their enlightening comments and hope that
when summarizing I won't have to give a "reponse de Normand".

Bert Peeters

Dr Bert Peeters - Department of Modern Languages (French)
University of Tasmania, GPO Box 252-91, Hobart TAS 7001, Australia
Tel.: +61 (0)02 202344 -- from 31/08/1996: +61 (0)3 6226 2344
Fax.: +61 (0)02 207813 -- from 31/08/1996: +61 (0)3 6226 7813
E-mail: Bert.Peetersmodlang.utas.edu.au
http://info.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/peeters/peeters.htm
http://info.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/french/welcome.htm

PLEASE NOTE NEW GPO BOX NUMBER!!!

 Iam interested in finding any information on metaphoric uses of
up/down and in/out in various languages. Moreover, I'd like any
literature or other information on cross-linguistic analyses of
metaphor. I'll summarize all the information I receive. Mark Sondrol
(sondrolcsd.uwm.edu)

 Dear linguists,

 Please answer the following questions, bearing in mind the
difference in tense and the second conjunct. What you are required to
do is to put yes or no in the blank provided in the righthand side of
each question. I put aside the unmarked reading where one and the same
nurse/guide examines/accompanies every ..... Directly I receive
enough responses, I will share them with you all in the form of a
summary.

 1. A nurse examines every patient, and Lucie does, too.
 ==>Does this sentence have a reading where for every patient there
is a different nurse? ( )

 2. A nurse will examine every patient, and Lucie will, too.
 ==>Does this sentence have a reading where for every patient there
is a different nurse? ( )

 3. A nurse examines every patient, and Lucie, the only doctor,
does, too.
 ==>Does this sentence have a reading where for every patient there
is a different nurse? ( )

 4. A nurse will examine every patient, and Lucie, the only doctor,
will, too.
 ==>Does this sentence have a reading where for every patient there
is a different nurse? ( )

 5. A guide accompanies every tour, and Jeanne does, too.
 ==>Does this sentence have a reading where for every tour there is
a different guide? ( )

 6. A guide will accompany every tour, and Jeanne will, too.
 ==>Does this sentence have a reading where for every tour there is
a different guide? ( )

 7. A guide accompanies every tour to the Eiffel Tower, and Jeanne
does, too.
 ==>Does this sentence have a reading where for every tour there is
a different guide? ( )

 8. A guide will accompany every tour to the Eiffel Tower, and
Jeanne will, too.
 ==>Does this sentence have a reading where for every tour there is
a different guide? ( )


 Lots of thanks in advance !