Quote:
Originally Posted by jiang  Oh, yes. It's very kind of you teachers to spare time to help us. Many thanks! 
I am afraid I don't understand this part: "I don't think 'for' on its own would sound right....". ... |
The words 'on its own', underlined, meant "without any other word added" - so
'for self interest'
, but 'for reasons of self-interest' (or, now I think of it, 'out of pure self-interest').
(Sometimes, instead of 'on its own', I've heard - and use - the French "
tout sec" [='all dry'], which seems to me appropriately brief; I'm not sure whether this usage is common enough to be called a borrowing (or just pretentiousness
).
b