Can you call yourself "the guy"?

Status
Not open for further replies.

keannu

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
1.In the paragraph, I find a weird expression "the guy" for yourself. I know even in Korean literary expressions, we find "writing style in the first person- omniscient viewpoint https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/#". You treat yourself as an objective person other than you to make dramatic effects, but I barealy have seen this expression in English except the below, so I'd like to confirm if this is the case.

"....John was as famous for his tennis skills as he was for his fits of temper on the court. One afternoon, I was playing an important singles match against John. When things didn't go his way, he began to go downhill, complaning about the game, screaming at himself , and slamming his racket. It looked like, he was having a public nervous breakdown. In the end, the guy who didn't "deserve to be on the same court" with him won in three tought sets. After the match, John announced his retirement from tennis at the age of twenty seven. He explained, "When I start losing to players like him, I've got to reconsider what I'm doing even playing this game." If he thought I'd be insulted, he was wrong. In fact, I loved it....."

2. "go downhill" means a comparison to "losing your self-control or something". right?

3. In the participle phrase, do you think complaining, screaming, slamming are simultaneous actions as go downhill, or consecutive actions following "go downhill"? It's kind of confusing.
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
One at a time:
1.In the paragraph, I find a weird expression "the guy" for yourself. I know even in Korean literary expressions, we find "writing style in the first person- omniscient viewpoint ". You treat yourself as an objective person other than you to make dramatic effects, but I barely have seen this expression in English except the below, so I'd like to confirm if this is the case.

".... In the end, the guy who didn't "deserve to be on the same court" with him won in three tough[STRIKE]t[/STRIKE] sets. "
We can only assume that John had, at some time before this match,, referred to the writer as 'the guy who didn't deserve to be on the same court with him (John)'.

The writer is using John's assessment of him to express satisfaction that he had been able to show John how wrong he had been.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top