Timeline for What does "I made him a cake" mean?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
7 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jan 9, 2019 at 3:50 | comment | added | Will Crawford | @DavidK unfortunately it's always a play on words ;o) | |
| Jan 8, 2019 at 18:35 | comment | added | qqqqq | @qqqqq There is a typo. Someone please replace ""He leg got broken" by ""His leg got broken". I am not allowed to edit it. | |
| Jan 8, 2019 at 17:08 | comment | added | David K | I'd say "made him a cake" is a natural idiom in English, though one might say "baked" instead of "made". Compare this line from a popular children's rhyme: "Bake me a cake as fast as you can." I agree the meaning would be make(3) in this context, though it also could be a play on words, in which case both the meanings make(3) and make(9) would apply. | |
| Jan 7, 2019 at 21:42 | comment | added | gidds | @qqqqq: My impression is that “I made him a cake” and “I made a cake for him” would both be common, idiomatic English, in both formal and casual contexts. (I suspect I'd be a little more likely to say the former, simply because it's slightly shorter and simpler.) The construction is at least two centuries old, possibly much more; it's certainly not a recent trend. | |
| Jan 7, 2019 at 21:10 | comment | added | qqqqq | Is "I made a cake for him" better English? If yes, both in formal and spoken communication? Is skipping words like "for" a trend in English to shorten sentences(perhaps caused by rapid urbanization. Where one has to just communicate essentials using minimal words because of lack of time). Example, I grew up learning "He broke his leg" would suggest he was at least partially responsible of his broken leg as opposed to "He leg got broken". | |
| Jan 7, 2019 at 18:31 | history | edited | Jimmy | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 242 characters in body
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| Jan 7, 2019 at 18:00 | history | answered | Jimmy | CC BY-SA 4.0 |