Timeline for if it was built to help rather than harm
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
18 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 19, 2023 at 15:43 | comment | added | Lambie | Think of what the import of your question might be, if it was designed to impress rather than inform? [same structure]. Just saying. [See what Jeff says below.] | |
| May 19, 2023 at 15:00 | history | bumped | CommunityBot | This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed. | |
| Jan 16, 2023 at 17:03 | history | bumped | CommunityBot | This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed. | |
| Sep 12, 2022 at 3:08 | history | bumped | CommunityBot | This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed. | |
| Aug 13, 2022 at 16:10 | comment | added | Kate Bunting | If it were... (the subjunctive) is strictly correct, but would seem a bit incongruous with the informal beginning Think of... | |
| Aug 13, 2022 at 15:44 | comment | added | Apollyon | @KateBunting Could the "was" be replaced by "were" in the OP sentence? | |
| Aug 13, 2022 at 14:16 | comment | added | Kate Bunting | Well... It's clear to me what it means (except that I'd never heard of T-1000!), but maybe the version I suggested above is clearer. | |
| Aug 13, 2022 at 13:32 | comment | added | Apollyon | @KateBunting Do you think the original OP sentence is natural? | |
| Aug 13, 2022 at 7:18 | comment | added | Kate Bunting | Not really. It's natural to put Think of at the beginning, to alert the reader that they are being asked to compare the product with something familiar to them (assuming they have seen the film!). Then the proviso, one way in which the two are different, is added afterwards. | |
| Aug 13, 2022 at 3:48 | comment | added | Apollyon | @KateBunting Could the two clauses of the sentence in question be switched around as follows, assuming that the "was" is actually a non-standard subjunctive? a. If a fun-sized liquid metal T-1000 from “Terminator 2” was built to help rather than harm, think of it. b. If T-1000 from “Terminator 2” was built to help rather than harm, think of a fun-sized liquid version of it. | |
| Aug 12, 2022 at 10:56 | comment | added | Old Brixtonian | @Apollyon I find it a little awkward. I would prefer it without "if it was". | |
| Aug 12, 2022 at 8:53 | comment | added | Filip Milovanović | Yeah; it's just a way of saying "imagine [something familiar/known], but [with these distinctions]". The "if it was" plays the role of "but" or "except". So, "imagine a [T-1000, a ruthless killing machine, sometimes having a solid shape, sometimes appearing as a liquid], except [it's not a killing machine]. | |
| Aug 12, 2022 at 7:47 | comment | added | Apollyon | @KateBunting That makes a lot more sense. | |
| Aug 12, 2022 at 7:31 | comment | added | Kate Bunting | I haven't seen 'Terminator 2', but the sentence asks you to imagine what a 'fun-sized' T-1000 would be like if it was intended to be helpful rather than harmful. | |
| Aug 12, 2022 at 4:46 | answer | added | Jeff Morrow | timeline score: 1 | |
| Aug 12, 2022 at 3:31 | comment | added | Apollyon | @OldBrixtonian Thank you. Do you mean the original is poorly written? | |
| Aug 12, 2022 at 3:16 | comment | added | Old Brixtonian | It makes sense if you delete "if it was". | |
| Aug 12, 2022 at 1:26 | history | asked | Apollyon | CC BY-SA 4.0 |