Srini Ramakrishnan wrote:
On Wed, Jun 4, 2008 at 4:33 PM, Rishab Aiyer Ghosh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
> "for bookings before june 15th the 4th night is offered"
>
> a native english speaker may find this incomprehensible. but any
> continental european would understand what it means. native
> speakers are frequently at a disadvantage since they do not allow
> for the same flexibility in the interpretation of words as
> 2nd/3rd/4th language speakers of english do. especially if they're
> monoglots, as most native english speakers are.
Actually, I disagree. I have difficulty parsing that sentence, and I
speak more than half a dozen languages. It's really the cultural
context that may make it more understandable to other Europeans. I
think there are similar Indian constructions in English that make
sense to other Indians, but rarely make sense to non-Indians.
Replace "offered" with "free" and it's pretty easily understandable.
Stick a comma after "15th" and it's perfectly clear.
- Joe
