I looked at it for the last time/one last time.

[99bottles]

Source: Me.

Before destroying the cursed, demonic object, I looked at it for the last time/one last time.

Do they both mean the same thing?

 

[Yankee]

Yes.

 

[Tarheel]

I would guess that you have to look at it to destroy it. (I suppose you could wear a blindfold, but that would be weird.)

 

[jutfrank]

I don't really understand why you're asking whether they mean the same thing. Where does that get you? Why not wonder what the differences are? Surely, as a budding genius writer, you ought to be developing a sensitivity of subtlety and nuance. Am I wrong?

 

[99bottles]

I don't really understand why you're asking whether they mean the same thing. Where does that get you? Why not wonder what the differences are? Surely, as a budding genius writer, you ought to be developing a sensitivity of subtlety and nuance. Am I wrong?

For the last time has no hits except the title of a song. My guess is that for the last time is more literary. Right?

 

[jutfrank]

What do you mean "no hits"? On a Google search? I get 320 million. Why are you doing a Google search, anyway? How's that going to help?

 

[99bottles]

What do you mean "no hits"? On a Google search? I get 320 million. Why are you doing a Google search, anyway? How's that going to help?

Look, with all due respect, you can help me if you want.

 

[jutfrank]

Believe it or not, I am trying. Never mind.

 

[99bottles]

Believe it or not, I am trying. Never mind.

On Google Books, there are many sentences with one last time, whereas there are no sentences with for the last time. On normal Google, all for the last time results are about a song titled such. Which is why I assumed for the last time is more literary. Have I got it wrong? If I have got it wrong, what is the right thing?

 

[Tarheel]

Do they mean different things? Possibly. "One last time" seems to mean you have trouble letting go. (It's more poignant, I think.) "For the last time" seems to have sense of an ultimatum.

 

[99bottles]

Do they mean different things? Possibly. "One last time" seems to mean you have trouble letting go. (It's more poignant, I think.) "For the last time" seems to have sense of an ultimatum.

Well, in that scene, the character just wants to get rid of that object. Neither does he have trouble letting it go nor is he giving an ultimatum. So what should I use?

 

[Flamenco1]

Well, in that scene, the character just wants to get rid of that object. Neither does he have trouble letting it go nor is he giving an ultimatum. So what should I use?

You need to think about what it is you want to say. We cannot tell you what is in your head.

Even if we could, English is an art, not a science. There is no single answer.

If you are saying he is totally removed from any emotion, why even bother mentioning "a last look" at all. It would seem like an irrelevant addition. Maybe better to say, "he didn't even give a last look".

What Tarheel's post does, is show you just how subtle changes in word order can be. But his detailed interpretation will not be understood the same, at the detailed level, by all readers .

When I write, and I have difficulty finding the right words, I first let it simmer for a while. Then I return to it, writing two or three versions, using totally different words. This often indicates where the block is.

But I have never found asking someone else to write it for me useful. The reason being, if I can't find the words, how can they possibly know my intentions.

I hope that helps in some way.