8.0095 Rs: Subway Poems; Death Sentences (5/110)

Elaine Brennan (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Wed, 13 Jul 1994 21:57:41 EDT

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 8, No. 0095. Wednesday, 13 Jul 1994.


(1) Date: Mon, 4 Jul 1994 09:04:43 -0700 (PDT) (7 lines)
From: Joseph Jones <jjones@unixg.ubc.ca>
Subject: subway poem

(2) Date: Tue, 5 Jul 1994 18:24:45 +0200 (30 lines)
From: wu10@cornell.edu (Ted Underwood)
Subject: Re: 8.0089 Qs: Quotes; Sentence to Death; Grammar (3/75)

(3) Date: Sat, 02 Jul 94 09:35:11 EDT (11 lines)
From: Lorne hammond <LHAMMOND@UOTTAWA>
Subject: Re: 8.0092 Rs: Note-Taking; Subway Poems (3/85)

(4) Date: Fri, 01 Jul 1994 20:48:25 -0500 (EST) (6 lines)
From: Michael Metzger <MLLMIKEM@UBVMS.BITNET>
Subject: death sentence texts

(5) Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 21:23:38 -0400 (56 lines)
From: tgb2@po.CWRU.Edu (Thomas G. Bishop)
Subject: Re: 8.0089 Qs: Quotes; Sentence to Death; Grammar (3/75)

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 4 Jul 1994 09:04:43 -0700 (PDT)
From: Joseph Jones <jjones@unixg.ubc.ca>
Subject: subway poem

Don't miss "The Leg in the Subway" by Oscar Williams.

Joseph Jones - University of British Columbia Library
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------41----
Date: Tue, 5 Jul 1994 18:24:45 +0200
From: wu10@cornell.edu (Ted Underwood)
Subject: Re: 8.0089 Qs: Quotes; Sentence to Death; Grammar (3/75)

Michael Butler <SCUT052@TWNMOE10> asks for observations on the usage of
these different question-phrases:

>1. How long
>2. How long does it take...
>3. How much time do you spend...

He continues,

>The first is used widely, but there are, I sense, places it shouldn't be used.
>For example:
>*How long did you go(fly, travel, drive) to America?
>*How long did you write the letter?
>*How long did you make your bed?
>*How long do you make a cake?

There are a lot of possible explanations for this, but the most likely one
seems to me to be simply that "How long ... ?" can be an ambiguous
formation in certain cases. "How long did you write the letter?" could
easily be answered "four pages"; likewise, "How long do you make a cake?"
could be answered "eighteen inches." There's less ambiguity in "How long
do you cook a cake?" which is probably why we don't feel the necessity to
add any additional specifying words like "does it take to."

Ted Underwood wu10@cornell.edu

(3) --------------------------------------------------------------19----
Date: Sat, 02 Jul 94 09:35:11 EDT
From: Lorne hammond <LHAMMOND@UOTTAWA>
Subject: Re: 8.0092 Rs: Note-Taking; Subway Poems (3/85)

Re subway poems.

Write Ginsberg. he was on the board that chose the poems for the New
York subway poem project. Also read THE MECHANICAL MUSE.

Regards
Lorne Hammond
(4) --------------------------------------------------------------21----
Date: Fri, 01 Jul 1994 20:48:25 -0500 (EST)
From: Michael Metzger <MLLMIKEM@UBVMS.BITNET>
Subject: death sentence texts

John Grisham's _The Chamber_. 486 pp. New York: Doubleday, 1994, $24.95 seems
worthy of mention as an important contribution to the discourse.
(5) --------------------------------------------------------------67----
Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 21:23:38 -0400
From: tgb2@po.CWRU.Edu (Thomas G. Bishop)
Subject: Re: 8.0089 Qs: Quotes; Sentence to Death; Grammar (3/75)

>
>(3) Date: Wed, 29 Jun 94 14:41:00 GMT (35 lines)
> From: Michael Butler <SCUT052@TWNMOE10>
>
>
>Because my last message was too brief and some of you asked for further elabora
>tion, I've expanded on my query below..
>I'm trying to understand how we use the following phrases in everyday speech (i
>n the present, past and "future" tenses).
>1. How long
>2. How long does it take...
>3. How much time do you spend...
>
>The first is used widely, but there are, I sense, places it shouldn't be used.
>For example:
>*How long did you go(fly, travel, drive) to America?
>*How long did you write the letter?
>*How long did you make your bed?
>*How long do you make a cake?


sundry lines cut

>
>If you could shed any additional light on this subject, I would appreciate
>your help.
>
>

I was once in the main railway station in Madras, India where I heard the
following conversation between an English woman and the ticket clerk:

She: One first class ticket to Tanjore, please.
He: 135 rupees, Madam. (or some such)
She: Excuse me, how long will the train be from Vellore?
He: Excuse me?
She: Yes, how long will the train be from Vellore?
He: (pause to check timetable) The train from Vellore, Madam, will be
six carriages long.
She: No, please, excuse me, how _long_ will the train take?
He: (triumphantly) Oh, Madam, the _duration_ of the _trip_ will be two hours
and thirty-five minutes.


Hope this helps. :-)


--
Tom Bishop                             "Look, here comes a walking fire!"
Dept of English
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH 44106.(tgb2@po.cwru.edu)