But let's imagine a facebook conversation with this: A: I always think about my James. B: I wish I knew yours, but I don't. Would that sound possible for a faebook conversation? Context: There are two James (one friend of A, one friend of B, both called James).
Nope , because as I said before this isn't how people talk (or write on face book) It would be more like A: I always think about James at this time of year (or similar there has to be a reason why they always think of him) B: Do you mean James Smith ? A: Nah I mean James Bloggs , you know big fat James used to play electric guitar on a Friday down the dog and duck, I wish I could hear him murder 'sunshine of your love' one more time B: Oh , sorry bro I don't think I knew him
I believe that you are moving further away from what you mean to say. When you say, "I always think about my James" that suggests that when you might be thinking about dinner, or work, or the last book you read, you instead think about James. You spend a great deal of your time thinking about James. He is the focus of your thoughts. He is central to your life. But I think that what you really mean is, "When someone refers to 'James', I always assume that they're referring to the James that I know." "I always think about my James" definitely doesn't communicate that.
Yeah, thank you, but I want to focus on the answer "I wish I knew yours, but I don't." and if that sounds native for a facebook conversation.
For about the fifth time no it doesn't . "I wish i knew your jack , but I don't" or "I wish I knew him but I don't" would sound slightly more natural - but the core issue is that there's no reason for person B to wish anything of the sort, so "sorry mate I don't know him' would make more sense
Thank you, but didn't matwoolf tell me that on TV or so it's OK? And I think a facebook conversation would come close to it. And also LinnyV used "I wish I knew yours" in her correction: https://www.writingforums.org/threads/help-of-a-native-speaker.143909/page-4#post-1504868
'I wish I knew yours, but I don't,' said Khali. What was the meaning of this exotic woman's unfathomable riddle? That night, alone on my pillow, I turned the words over and over like a hot pillow with two sides: I wish I knew yours, but I don't I wish I knew yours, but I don't I wish I knew yours, but I don't I wish I knew yours, but I don't.
If you look at Matt's other posts you'll see that he's renowned for the sort of off kilter joke he's making here, just don't read too much into it
Thank you. I am ashamed, but I have no idea how to translate "off kilter joke" or what it is. I looked into my dictionary and it said "off kilter = out of balance" but that sounds weird?
No, that's about right. It's a joke that you really can't explain in a clear and logical way. I often find Mat's jokes to be pleasing, but I think they're not intended to be taken seriously. Smile if you find it pleasing, move on if you're annoyed or confused. That's what I do, anyway.
Thank you. One last question: Which question makes more sense here? Positive or negative? 1. For a while I thought Jeff and Dean are the same person. Are they the same then? 2. For a while I thought Jeff and Dean are the same person. But they are not the same then? Because example 1 seems strange, as the person first says they are not the same and then asks if they are the same. In example 2 the person is only asking for confirmation. Am I right? Or what do you think about it?
You've gone back to the present tense for the second verb, so it doesn't read smoothly... For a while I thought Jeff and Dean were the same person. And then for the question - the "then" still reads really awkwardly to me, but leaving that alone... I think part of the issue is that you're repeating part of the phrase from the first sentence, but not the whole phrase. I'd go with either: Are they? or Are they they same person? or Aren't they? or Aren't they the same person? In terms of the differences between the two, I think it's a question of connotation. The first makes it sound like the speaker is genuinely unsure (which doesn't really match with the certainty of the first part of the quote) and the second makes it sound like the speaker is reasonably sure they ARE the same person (which, again, doesn't really match with the first part of the quote). I mean, the implication of the phrasing is: For a while I thought Jeff and Dean were the same person [but now I know better] So it doesn't make sense for a speaker to point out that she knows better now and then ask the question anyway. It's like: I used to think cats were just really small dogs. Are cats really small dogs?
