ESL Vocabulary and Idioms

Re: ethical tight corner

Clive — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 01:14:03 GMT

Hi,

Opinion Size Age Shape Color Origin Material Purpose

where would ethical go?

Dunno. Perhaps 'tight' = size or shape / 'ethical' = purpose?

Clive

Re: ethical tight corner

Grammar Geek — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 19:51:39 GMT

Interesting. As a native speaker, I guess I just sense when it looks or sounds "wrong" but had never thought about whether there was a standard order. Thanks.

Re: ethical tight corner

davkett — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 18:10:32 GMT

Grammar Geek wrote:

I've never seen the rule of adjective order before. Where did it come from?

Google "adjective order".

Re: ethical tight corner

Grammar Geek — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 16:42:53 GMT

I've never seen the rule of adjective order before. Where did it come from? How commonly is it used?

(The only one I know is BANGS for French adjectives that go before the noun.)

Re: ethical tight corner

davkett — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 15:22:03 GMT

Clive wrote:

My feeling is that the idiom 'tight corner' is so well-known that it is not straining it to insert another adjective. In fact, to me it seems to 'freshen up' what is a slightly tired idiom by making the reader think about it for an extra millisecond.

As expected, a fine rebuttal, Clive. I like the importance of a millesecond.

As to the rule of adjective order--

Opinion Size Age Shape Color Origin Material Purpose

where would ethical go?

Re: ethical tight corner

Clive — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 03:22:30 GMT

Hi guys,

Yes, I understand why you disagree with me. I think that my suggestion is in line with the standard order of adjectives, while yours is that the idiomatic nature of the phrase requires the two words (tight + corner)to be kept together. So, it's a question of which of these two considerations is the more important.

My feeling is that the idiom 'tight corner' is so well-known that it is not straining it to insert another adjective. In fact, to me it seems to 'freshen up' what is a slightly tired idiom by making the reader think about it for an extra millisecond.

However, style is a subjective matter. I certainly wouldn't want to get into a tight grammatical corner by arguing that I'm right and you're wrong.

Best wishes, Clive

(I still haven't commented on the double entendre aspect of this thread.)

Re: ethical tight corner

Pchuang — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 02:18:23 GMT

ethical tight corner

a better choice.

Re: ethical tight corner

davkett — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 00:25:36 GMT

Clive wrote:

I'd prefer to say 'a tight ethical corner' rather than 'an ethical tight corner'.

Clive, I don't agree. The common idiom is 'tight corner'. Here it is described as an 'ethical tight corner'. There could be artistic tight corners, religious tight corners, legal tight corners, psychological tight corners, etc. On the other hand, I've never heard of an 'ethical corner'--tight or loose.

Re: ethical tight corner

Clive — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 23:49:23 GMT

Hi guys,

Personally, I'd prefer to say 'a tight ethical corner' rather than 'an ethical tight corner'.

I'm also going to ignore the double entendre that I see lurking in this thread.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: ethical tight corner

Antonija — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 10:37:09 GMT

Thank you Davkett

Re: ethical tight corner

davkett — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 20:07:34 GMT

I wouldn't use stimulate. Maybe-- trigger.

and--

...it was another ethical tight corner I'd gotten myself into.

ethical tight corner

Antonija — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 19:33:24 GMT

Is it ok to say it in the context?:

"Can Viagra stimulate extramarital affairs,” it was another ethical tight corner, that I got myself into.

Thanks