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Thread: idiom

  1. 30-Jun-2006, 23:37 #1
    edvillanueva
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    Default idiom

    I need information of the history, meaning and application of the ff:

    "East is east n west is west n the twain will never meet" (something like this) 2nd posting
  2. 01-Jul-2006, 10:12 #2
    Tdol
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    Default Re: idiom

    It's a quotation from the writer Rudyard Kipling:
    East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet
  3. 01-Jul-2006, 10:47 #3
    dihen
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    Default Re: idiom

    Quote Originally Posted by tdol
    It's a quotation from the writer Rudyard Kipling:
    East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet
    Why is the negative inversion missing?
    `
    Shouldn't it be? :
    "East is East and West is West and never shall the twain meet."
  4. 02-Jul-2006, 08:17 #4
    Tdol
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    Default Re: idiom

    Poetic licence.
  5. 24-Aug-2006, 05:02 #5
    dihen
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    Default Re: idiom

    Quote Originally Posted by Tdol View Post
    Poetic licence
    But doesn't it also imply a different meaning?
    `
    "...never shall the twain meet." (negative inversion)
    "...never the twain shall meet." ("never the twain (but something else) shall meet")
  6. 25-Sep-2006, 11:21 #6
    Tdol
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    Default Re: idiom

    The wording at the beginning makes it clear what is not meeting what.
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