He would bring the vegetables "all over".

[sitifan]

He would bring the vegetables all over.
Source: Essays on English Grammar and Rhetoric, by Ting-chi Tang, page 26.

What does the phrase "all over" mean in the above quotation?

 

[Tarheel]

I have no idea. In fact, that would be my question. What does that mean? What does it mean to bring the vegetables all over? (Surely the person who wrote that knows what it means.)

 

[tedmc]

The sentence does not make sense.
The writer probably meant "He would bring all the vegetables over".

 

[Rover_KE]

What point of grammar or rhetoric is the author discussing in that particular essay?

 

[sitifan]

What point of grammar or rhetoric is the author discussing in that particular essay?

8 a. I told you to put the coat on, not to take it off.
b. (?) I told you to put on the coat, not to take it off.
9 a. I'll clean the room right up.
b. (?) I'll clean right up the room.
10 a. He would bring the vegetables all over.
b. (?) He would bring all over the vegetables.

 

[emsr2d2]

8 a. I told you to put the coat on, not to take it off.
b. (?) I told you to put on the coat, not to take it off.
9 a. I'll clean the room right up.
b. (?) I'll clean right up the room.
10 a. He would bring the vegetables all over.
b. (?) He would bring all over the vegetables.

Are those supposed to be "Choose a or b" exercises? If so, they're a disaster! 8a and 8b are both correct. 10a and 10b are both incorrect. 9 is the only one that has just one correct choice. However, if the writer doesn't explain how "right" works in that sentence, they're doing the students a great disservice.

 

[sitifan]

Are those supposed to be "Choose a or b" exercises? If so, they're a disaster! 8a and 8b are both correct. 10a and 10b are both incorrect. 9 is the only one that has just one correct choice. However, if the writer doesn't explain how "right" works in that sentence, they're doing the students a great disservice.

How does "right" work in that sentence?
P.S. According to the writer, 8a, 9a, and 10a are all acceptable; 8b, 9b, and 10b are all questionable. He did not translate any of the six sentences, and I don't know what 10a and 10b mean.

 

[emsr2d2]

How does "right" work in that sentence?

Saying "I'll clean that room right up" is the same as saying "I'll clean that room up right away" (immediately).

According to the writer, 8a, 9a, and 10a are all acceptable;

8a is correct.
9a is correct.
10a means nothing.

8b, 9b, and 10b are all questionable.

8b is correct.
9b is incorrect.
10b means nothing.
(A teacher or test setter shouldn't describe sentences as "questionable". They should provide sentences that are either correct or incorrect.)

He did not translate any of the six sentences, and I don't know what 10a and 10b mean.

As I said above, 10a and 10b mean nothing. I assume they were supposed to mean "He would bring over all the vegetables" or "He would bring all the vegetables over" - they don't.

 

[emsr2d2]

@sitifan Rover asked you "What point of grammar or rhetoric is the author discussing in that particular essay?" You haven't actually answered that question. Posting five more sample sentences from the essay doesn't help. Don't give us any more example sentences - tell us what the topic of that essay/chapter is.

 

[sitifan]

@sitifan Rover asked you "What point of grammar or rhetoric is the author discussing in that particular essay?" You haven't actually answered that question. Posting five more sample sentences from the essay doesn't help. Don't give us any more example sentences - tell us what the topic of that essay/chapter is.

8 a. I told you to put the coat on, not to take it off.
b. (?) I told you to put on the coat, not to take it off.
The essay was written in Chinese. What the author tried to teach was that "to put the coat on" and "put on the coat" are both correct. But the expression "to put on the coat and to put it off" is not parallel and therefore questionable.

 

[emsr2d2]

8 a. I told you to put the coat on, not to take it off.
b. (?) I told you to put on the coat, not to take it off.
The essay was written in Chinese. What the author tried to teach is that "to put the coat on" and "put on the coat" are both correct. But "to put on the coat and to put it off" is not parallel and therefore questionable.

This is getting us nowhere! All you've done is give us the same example sentences and tell us that the writer considers them both correct. WHAT WAS THE SUBJECT/TOPIC OF THE ESSAY/CHAPTER?! Is it about the use of prepositions? Is it about phrasal verbs? What is it about?

 

[sitifan]

This is getting us nowhere! All you've done is give us the same example sentences and tell us that the writer considers them both correct. WHAT WAS THE SUBJECT/TOPIC OF THE ESSAY/CHAPTER?! Is it about the use of prepositions? Is it about phrasal verbs? What is it about?

The title of the essay is "Linguistic Analysis and Language Teaching". The example sentences are quoted from section 9 of the essay, whose topic is as follows: The pragmatic difference between "I called up the doctor" and "I called the doctor up".
https://www.reddit.com/r/EnglishLearning/comments/1awb8mj

 

[Tarheel]

In 73 years I have never called up a doctor. 🫤

 

[emsr2d2]

The title of the essay is "Linguistic Analysis and Language Teaching". The example sentences are quoted from section 9 of the essay, whose topic is as follows: The pragmatic difference between "I called up the doctor" and "I called the doctor up".

OK, so the topic appears to be any difference caused by separating the two halves of a phrasal verb. The phrasal verbs in the original are "put on", "take off", "clean up" and "bring over". The author has confused the issue by adding unnecessary words to the example sentences, and they've particularly messed up the one about vegetables. The two sentences should have been:

He would bring over all the vegetables.
He would bring all the vegetables over.

With regard to Tarheel's comment about the doctor example, I think this is a BrE v AmE difference. In the UK, "phone up/ring up/call up" are all used to mean "to telephone". The word "up" is, admittedly, redundant in all three.

I'm going to phone the doctor = I'm going to phone up the doctor/phone the doctor up
I'm going to ring the doctor = I'm going to ring up the doctor/ring the doctor up
I'm going to call the doctor = I'm going to call up the doctor/call the doctor up

 

[Tarheel]

I understand "phone" in that context, of course, but I would invariably use "call" there.

I think you're right. I think it is an American English/British English difference.

There was a popular song that went, "Pick up the phone and call me. Call me and I'll be around."