ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: cut down on his diet

Yoong Liat — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:37:12 GMT

Hi Khoff

You're right. Nowadays, 'to diet', 'to go on a diet', or 'to cut down on caffeine, etc' is used.

Re: cut down on his diet

khoff — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:04:37 GMT

Yoong Liat -- one of your examples is from 1892! Even the other one, from 1933, pre-dates the "diet craze" in America, when the word "diet," which originally meant "everything you eat," took on the second meaning of "a regime desinged to help someone lose weight by limiting their food intake." The word was not ambiguous in 1933, or in 1892. Now it is.

Re: cut down on his diet

New2grammar — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:46:30 GMT

Marius Hancu
Cut down on his food portions/intake, ~~not diet.~~

Why is diet wrong?

Re: cut down on his diet

Yoong Liat — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:17:03 GMT

'Cut down on diet' is fine. Please see the following:

New Outlook - Page 165

by Alfred Emanuel Smith - 1892You can probably guess my next move — nearly every " fat " man and woman has
taken it. 1 Ixj- came a follower of the " simple life." 1 cut down on my diet— ...Snippet view - About this book - Add to my libraryMore editions

by John Burdon Sanderson Haldane - Science - 1933 - 287 pagesBut I did not at first cut down my diet to suit my sedentary habits. Perhaps that
was why I developed appendicitis, which is a disease mainly afflicting the ...Snippet view - About this book - Add to my library - More editions

Re: cut down on his diet

Marius Hancu — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 10:06:20 GMT

Cut down on his food portions/intake, ~~not diet.~~

Re: cut down on his diet

New2grammar — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 06:13:14 GMT

Thanks, Vorpar.

Re: cut down on his diet

Vorpar — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 06:10:41 GMT

If you mean that he stopped dieting, I would say "He cheated on his diet." or "He's off his diet."

Re: cut down on his diet

New2grammar — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 06:08:42 GMT

The latter.

Vorpar
or when someone eats less to lose weight

Re: cut down on his diet

Vorpar — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 06:04:46 GMT

It's ambiguous. Diet can either mean what someone eats, or when someone eats less to lose weight. Which meaning do you intend?

cut down on his diet

New2grammar — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 05:24:19 GMT

Cut down on his diet.

Is this natural?
Thanks