I like dogs/ I like a dog
Masa
2) I like dogs.
I understand like this:
1) means: There is a certain dog I like.
2) means: I'm lover of dogs.
And, 1) could mean the same as 2) sometimes.
In this case, "a dog" is representative of all.
But this usage is rarely used.
Do I understand right?
Wood Avens
wrote:
"I like dogs" is just as as you understand it, but I'm having a hard
time thinking of a context in which someone might say "I like a dog".
You'd almost always say "I like collies" or "I like Jane's dog" or "I
like old Wuffles". I suppose you might say "I don't mind walks in the
country, but I like a dog to come with me". You'd be unlikely to say
simply "I like a dog".
(Someone will be along in a moment with a cast-iron common context.)
--
Katy Jennison
spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @
franzi
Someone might say "I like a dog" to mean that they like to own a dog.
They mean that they like to have a dog about the house, or as a pet,
or to take for walks. It's a comment on their preferred way of living.
Me, I like to be able to go away at a moment's notice, and a good
local pub.
--
franzi
Django Cat
> 1) I like a dog.
> 2) I like dogs.
>
>
> I understand like this:
>
> 1) means: There is a certain dog I like.
> 2) means: I'm lover of dogs.
^
a
>
> And, 1) could mean the same as 2) sometimes.
> In this case, "a dog" is representative of all.
You can keep pushing this idea with different examples as much as you
want, but it still isn't idiomatic.
> But this usage is rarely used.
>
>
> Do I understand right?
Yes. It is used sometimes, for example in poetry:
"A thing of beauty is a joy forever"
but I really wouldn't use it if you're a non-native speaker.
DC
--
Mike Lyle
Wouldn't the usual way to express that idea be something like "I like
having a dog"?
I admit I'm not entirely sure why, since we would regularly say "I like
a woollen jersey", or "I like a nice cup of tea in the
morning."...Actually, the tea may be a clue: I wonder if we would
usually avoid "I like a dog" because it might be thought more
appropriate for something we'd eat: "I like a kipper", or "I like a hot
dog".
--
Mike.
LFS
I like a cigar but White House shenanigans made it imprudent for me to
announce this.
--
Laura
(emulate St. George for email)
Evan Kirshenbaum
> Masa wrote:
>
>> 1) I like a dog.
>> 2) I like dogs.
>>
>>
>> I understand like this:
>>
>> 1) means: There is a certain dog I like.
>> 2) means: I'm lover of dogs.
>
> ^
> a
>>
>> And, 1) could mean the same as 2) sometimes.
>> In this case, "a dog" is representative of all.
>
> You can keep pushing this idea with different examples as much as
you
> want, but it still isn't idiomatic.
It can, in my opinion, be idiomatic if you make the sentence a bit
heavier:
I like a dog that knows how to hunt.
I like a dog who's content to just sit by the fire.
I like a playful dog.
I like a dog to snuggle up against when it's cold.
Or, in another sense
I like a dog with mustard, relish, onions, and peppers.
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |When correctly viewed,
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 | Everything is lewd.
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |I could tell you things
| about Peter Pan,
kirsh...@hpl.hp.com |and the Wizard of Oz--
(650)857-7572 | there's a dirty old man!
| Tom Lehrer
http://www.kirshenbaum.net/
John Dean
That's the one.
I like a pork chop.
I like a tuna steak.
I like a dog.
--
John Dean
Oxford
Chuck Riggs
Well-adjusted woman: "I like having a man around the house".
Grumpy old lady, in response: "I like a dog".
--
Regards,
Chuck Riggs,
An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE
Chuck Riggs
<kirsh...@hpl.hp.com> wrote:
>"Django Cat" <nota...@address.co.uk> writes:
>
>> Masa wrote:
>>
>>> 1) I like a dog.
>>> 2) I like dogs.
>>>
>>>
>>> I understand like this:
>>>
>>> 1) means: There is a certain dog I like.
>>> 2) means: I'm lover of dogs.
>>
>> ^
>> a
>>>
>>> And, 1) could mean the same as 2) sometimes.
>>> In this case, "a dog" is representative of all.
>>
>> You can keep pushing this idea with different examples as much as
> you
>> want, but it still isn't idiomatic.
>
>It can, in my opinion, be idiomatic if you make the sentence a bit
>heavier:
>
> I like a dog that knows how to hunt.
> I like a dog who's content to just sit by the fire.
> I like a playful dog.
> I like a dog to snuggle up against when it's cold.
>
>Or, in another sense
>
> I like a dog with mustard, relish, onions, and peppers.
"a dog _who's_ content"? Underlining, my own.
Evan Kirshenbaum
Yeah. I don't have a problem using "who" for animals, especially
domestic ones. I know that some people do.
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |Feeling good about government is like
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |looking on the bright side of any
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |catastrophe. When you quit looking
|on the bright side, the catastrophe
kirsh...@hpl.hp.com |is still there.
(650)857-7572 | P.J. O'Rourke
Ian Noble
wrote:
>1) I like a dog.
No. 1) isn't a restricted way of saying 2).
IN fact, the only circumstance in which I could imagine using 1)
(except to mean something different entirely, such as my food
preferences) would be to contrast my position with that suggested by
2).
"Do you like dogs?"
"Well, I like *a* dog - my brother's labrador is sweet..."
(implied but not stated, something along the lines of "...but mostly I
can't stand the things.")
Cheers - Ian
(BrE: Yorks., Hants.)
erilar
Chuck Riggs <chr...@eircom.net> wrote:
> "a dog _who's_ content"? Underlining, my own.
It depends on your attitude toward dogs. My Gretl is definitely a
"who", as is Jessie, the dog next door, and many others I have known.
--
Erilar, biblioholic medievalist
erilar
Chuck Riggs <chr...@eircom.net> wrote:
> Well-adjusted woman: "I like having a man around the house".
> Grumpy old lady, in response: "I like a dog".
Relaxed, happy old lady who has tried both: "I not only like a dog, I
prefer one."
Chuck Riggs
<dra...@chibardun.net.invalid> wrote:
>In article <naubk5lbfllu36skl...@4ax.com>,
> Chuck Riggs <chr...@eircom.net> wrote:
>
>> Well-adjusted woman: "I like having a man around the house".
>> Grumpy old lady, in response: "I like a dog".
>
>Relaxed, happy old lady who has tried both: "I not only like a dog, I
>prefer one."
Dog, slowly waking to what is going on, goes woof, woof.
Chuck Riggs
<dra...@chibardun.net.invalid> wrote:
>In article <feubk5ls9suruhpfm...@4ax.com>,
> Chuck Riggs <chr...@eircom.net> wrote:
>
>> "a dog _who's_ content"? Underlining, my own.
>
>It depends on your attitude toward dogs. My Gretl is definitely a
>"who", as is Jessie, the dog next door, and many others I have known.
I'd personify an animal, as I have, before I'd refer to it as a "who"
in an English usage newsgroup, where the language tends towards the
formal.
Django Cat
Or as Rudyard Kipling had it:
"A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke."
Altogether now: 'Do you like Kipling'?
DC
--
Robert Lieblich
[ ... ]
> Altogether now: 'Do you like Kipling'?
You naughy boy -- surely it's "all together."
--
Bob Lieblich
Whooshed again
Django Cat
> Django Cat wrote:
>
> [ ... ]
>
> > Altogether now: 'Do you like Kipling'?
>
> You naughy boy -- surely it's "all together."
Are you there, Skitt?
--
Leslie Danks
S'a glo'al stop, innit?
--
Les (BrE)
Pat Durkin
"Django Cat" <nota...@address.co.uk> wrote in message
news:9C02n.23996$Ym4....@text.news.virginmedia.com...
Well, I do enjoy kipple a bit, but I don't have a doctorate in it. I
guess because I don't call myself a garbologist.
Django Cat
I thought it was that Scottish bloke on the Today programme.
--
Django Cat
I've just looked up the sci-fi writer who invented the term 'kipple'.
Let's not even think about making that gag....
DC
--
Skitt
Yup, and Bob is altogether correct.
--
Skitt (AmE)
Django Cat
Well, one of you is going to have to tell me what 'naughy' means in
that case.
DC
--
Skitt
Oh man, I didn't even notice that, concentrating on the "all together" vs.
"altogether" matter. I need another cup of coffee.
--
Skitt (AmE)
Robert Lieblich
I need something stronger.
--
Bob Lieblich
Waiting for the Decade of the Naughs to end on 12/31/10 (Euro
31/12/10)
Robin Bignall
<r_s_li...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Skitt wrote:
>>
>> Django Cat wrote:
>> > Skitt wrote:
>> >> Django Cat wrote:
>> >>> Robert Lieblich wrote:
>> >>>> Django Cat wrote:
>>
>> >>>>> Altogether now: 'Do you like Kipling'?
>> >>>>
>> >>>> You naughy boy -- surely it's "all together."
>> >>>
>> >>> Are you there, Skitt?
>> >>
>> >> Yup, and Bob is altogether correct.
>> >
>> > Well, one of you is going to have to tell me what 'naughy' means in
>> > that case.
>>
>> Oh man, I didn't even notice that, concentrating on the "all together" vs.
>> "altogether" matter. I need another cup of coffee.
>
>I need something stronger.
No, just a little 't'.
--
Robin
(BrE)
Herts, England
Django Cat
> Skitt wrote:
> >
> > Django Cat wrote:
> > > Skitt wrote:
> > >> Django Cat wrote:
> > >>> Robert Lieblich wrote:
> > >>>> Django Cat wrote:
> >
> > >>>>> Altogether now: 'Do you like Kipling'?
> > > > > >
> > >>>> You naughy boy -- surely it's "all together."
> > > > >
> > >>> Are you there, Skitt?
> > > >
> > >> Yup, and Bob is altogether correct.
> > >
> > > Well, one of you is going to have to tell me what 'naughy' means
> > > in that case.
> >
> > Oh man, I didn't even notice that, concentrating on the "all
> > together" vs. "altogether" matter. I need another cup of coffee.
>
> I need something stronger.
Never mind, have one on me.
DC
--
Evan Kirshenbaum
> Altogether now: 'Do you like Kipling'?
An older joke than I had thought. I see it in the August, 1917
_Bulletin of Pharmacy_.
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |When you rewrite a compiler from
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |scratch, you sometimes fix things
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |you didn't know were broken.
| Larry Wall
kirsh...@hpl.hp.com
(650)857-7572