Quests

[vil]

Hi Amigos4,

Not for nothing you are a inhabitant of Tucson, a town with reputation for high culture and high technology, a center for opera, theater, ballet, symphony and visual arts.

I estimate highly the merits of your civic courage stigmatizing the "self-destructive" behaviour of some celebrities.

Regards.

V.

[heidita]

Originally Posted by vil

Hi Amigos4,

Not for nothing (I would suggest: not in vain) you are an inhabitant of Tucson, a town with a good reputation for high culture and high technology, a center for opera, theater, ballet, symphony and visual arts.


V.

I wonder if "not for nothing " is standard, it sounds like a translation from German to me, probably the same in your language, Vil.

Can a native confirm?

I believe, reputation definitely needs the article, but also an adjective. AS "a woman of a reputation" , as far as I remember, is a woman of doubtful reputation.

cheers

[belly_ttt]

Could you explain the idiom not in vain, heidita?

[amigos4]

Originally Posted by heidita

I wonder if "not for nothing " is standard, it sounds like a translation from German to me, probably the same in your language, Vil.

Can a native confirm?

I believe, reputation definitely needs the article, but also an adjective. AS "a woman of a reputation" , as far as I remember, is a woman of doubtful reputation.

cheers

Hi, Vil, heidita, and belly!

Vil, thank you very much for the kind words you said about me and about my city. Tucson is, indeed, a wonderful place to live and to raise a family!

Heidita, you are correct... 'not for nothing' is occasionally heard but it is not common usage. Because vil is giving me a compliment in his second paragraph, the opening line of his first paragraph could be : 'There is a reason...' instead of 'Not for nothing...'

Let me paraphrase vil's first paragraph: There is a reason you are an inhabitant of Tucson, a town with a reputation for high culture and high technology, a center for opera, theater, ballet, symphony and visual arts.

Heidita, in this case 'reputation' does need the article 'a'. However, the adjective is not required because the context of the paragraph is totally positive. Therefore, 'reputation' is understood to be favorable. Certainly, the optional use of an adjective would strengthen the sentence: 'Tucson is a city with a solid/positive/notable reputation for...'

belly, the expression 'not in vain' is used to indicate that there was value/worth/meaning to something. 'Because our many hours of work created a beautiful new home, our efforts were not in vain.' The flip-side to this concept is 'Because our many hours of work did not create a beautiful new home, our efforts were in vain.'

Cheers,
Amigos4

[heidita]

Hi amigos4! It's a shame I don't know your city..full of nice people as it appears.

cheers

[amigos4]

Originally Posted by heidita

Hi amigos4! It's a shame I don't know your city..full of nice people as it appears.

cheers

Hi, heidita!

Someday you will have the pleasure of visiting my wonderful city!

The landscape in Tucson and southern Arizona is much different than what you will see in Spain and Germany! We have lots of giant cactus and strange looking animals and insects!

I see from your profile that you are in Spain. What city?

Cheers,
Amigos4

[heidita]

Originally Posted by amigos4

I see from your profile that you are in Spain. What city?

Cheers,
Amigos4

True, I would love to see all that. I live in MAdrid.

cheers

[belly_ttt]

Hi
Thanks for your wonderful explanation amigos. I think I've got it
So, as you said, we use reputation in this case with a postive meaning but I think naturally ( am I right to use naturally here or By nature instead? ), reputation has a postive meaning whilst notoriety may have the concept of the flip -side

[heidita]

Hi belly: I don't think reputation has by nature a positive meaning. Her some definitions:

the general estimation that the public has for a person

the state of being held in high esteem and honor

notoriety for some particular characteristic; "his reputation for promiscuity

As you can see, reputation is not necessarily positive.

I would use by nature, or originally in your sentence. Let's see if a native confirms.

cheers

[vil]

Hi Heidita,

Thank you for your refined style to mark the transgressors.

I don't know where to put myself. There are three errors only within the framework of two short lines.

Until very recently I was a self-educated English student. A few months ago I knew about workings the present forum and now I am learning English language with the blessing help of many hard to please teachers, strict redactors an moderators, and gratuitous NES, as well as knowledgeable as you NNES.

Because of my hard eradicated routine and hard remediable bullheadedness I allow unceasingly many mistakes to slip in my post. On the other hand I have an emphatically fondness for unusual words and phrases. Unfortunately I don't put them sometimes on the proper place, which sure do stir up discontent by many readers of my posts.

I put my hope for improvement in close future.

Thank you also for your reasonable and edifying explanation.

Regards.

V.