Sentence construction

[Richard Togher]

I would like to ask if the following line, taken from a song, is correctly constructed:

"The handbags and the gladrags
that your poor old granddad had to sweat to buy"

This seems to suggest that the granddad sweated handbags and gladrags.

Is such a construction gramatically correct, or is the lyricist using artistic licence

i know there are cases of 'transferred epithets' which attach words to parts of the sentence they don't belong to eg "an absent-minded cup of coffee" - PG Wodehouse

Might the lyricist be using a similar device for effect?

Similarly could i say "the house which i worked so hard to pay for"

Many thanks, forum members

[susiedqq]

Yes, there is artistic license for song lyrics and poems.

No, you cannot end a sentence in "for." (but you could in a poem or song)

[mary joe]

Yes, I think that lyrics can be grammatically incorrect and you mustn't use them when you are learning English. But, why can't we use "for" at the end of a sentence. Does it mean that in speaking English you can't use it as an end of your statement? Thanks.

[susiedqq]

"The handbags and the gladrags
that your poor old granddad had to sweat to buy"

This seems to suggest that the granddad sweated handbags and gladrags

No, it means that the handbags and the gladrags are things that your grandad worked so hard for that he would sweat

.In order to buy those things, he had to work very hard to earn money.

[Richard Togher]

May I ask Susiedqq if the sentence is correctly constructed as it stands - could i similarly say "the house i had to sweat to buy."

My query can be more clearly demostrated if i wanted to buy 'water'
i.e. "The water i had to sweat to buy"

- Here, there is a possibilty of confusion, because 'water' is something which you actually 'sweat'; yet, using the logic of the song lyrics, it could me "I had to work hard ('sweat') to earn money with which to buy the water"

Many thanks!