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Could the following sentence mean " the car is speeding in a crazy manner/ in high speed / uncontrollable way" or it can have only one meaning?

The car is speeding around the bend.

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  • @AlanCarmack oops..sorry I misspelled it.
    – Mrt
    Apr 28, 2016 at 14:33
  • Are you confused because of the idiom "around the bend' meaning "having lost sanity/gotten very drunk"? Typically we only use that with people - 'Why is Colleen editing all questions tagged grammar? She's gone completely around the bend!"
    – ColleenV
    Apr 28, 2016 at 17:19
  • @ColleenV yes that was the point made me confused but I think " around " is a preposition here
    – Mrt
    Apr 28, 2016 at 17:41
  • I think your question may get more attention if you edit your answer to explain why you think (or thought) the sentence might be able to be interpreted in different ways.
    – ColleenV
    Apr 28, 2016 at 18:27

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The car is speeding around the bend

only means that the car is going fast (perhaps in excess of the speed limit). The idiomatic usage of "around the bend" (which I think must be more common in BrE than in AmE) to mean "insane" only applies to people ... and maybe animals(?)

This might mean that the car is being driven in a crazy / uncontrollable manner:

The car is careening around the bend.

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  • It might mean crazy / uncontrollable (or, as you say, in excess of the speed limit). But the usage could also occur in the context of an F1 racing car driver with very tight control of his vehicle (and no suggestion of exceeding any speed limit), so although I agree your first 9 words above are unassailable, I'm not so sure about substituting careening, since that almost always implies great speed without control. And actually, to speed out of a bend would normally be something done very deliberately, with control, since it gives better traction & control of inertia.
    – FumbleFingers
    Apr 28, 2016 at 15:57
  • @FumbleFingers do you agree it has nothing to do with the noun bend which means "a curve or turn, especially in a road or river". oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/bend_2
    – Mrt
    Apr 28, 2016 at 17:05
  • 2
    In the phrase "around the bend", the word bend absolutely does refer to the noun. The car is speeding around the curve.
    – stangdon
    Apr 28, 2016 at 19:38
  • @FumbleFingers "careening" was clearly suggested in the context of "crazy / uncontrollable". So... I think you actually just agreed with me.
    – G. Ann - SonarSource Team
    Apr 28, 2016 at 20:21
  • @G. Ann: Well, it seems the only reason OP has asked the question is because he's conflating the cited (literal) usage with idiomatic around the bend = ​mentally ​confused or ​unable to ​act in a ​reasonable way, which has absolutely nothing to do with his context. And as is clear from his comment above, OP still had this mistaken impression after reading your answer. So even though I don't disagree with anything specific that you said here, it obviously didn't lead to "instant enlightenment" for OP.
    – FumbleFingers
    Apr 29, 2016 at 12:37

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