either/both

[navi tasan]

Which of these is correct:
1-He had blocked me against the wall. He had his arms on both sides of me.
2-He had blocked me against the wall. He had his arms on either side of me.

3-He had blocked me against the wall. He had an arm on both sides of me.
4-He had blocked me against the wall. He had an arm on either side of me.

[Francois]

1. is ok.
2. is not.
3. looks awkward to me, but it might be ok.
4. is not good.

FRC

[Tdol]

3 looks very dubious.

[navi tasan]

Thanks Tdol.
I guess that means the other ones are fine.

[Francois]

I don't think 2 and 4 are. If he has one or both arms on either side of you, that is, one side or the other, he would not block you, would he?

FRC

[navi tasan]

The problem is that "either" can mean "both".
Check it out:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/defi...&dict=CALD