Valley served for a while as the second Batman

[hhtt21]

"Valley served for awhile as the second Batman when Bruce Wayne's spine was crippled, although he would later be forced to relinquish the role."

Would you please explain the part "Valley served for a while as the second Batman". What does it mean?

Thank you.

 

[hhtt21]

Which part do you not understand?

While Wayne was sick, Valley took on the job of being Batman.

Now it is more clear. Here serve as somebody=take on the job of being somebody.

Can we also say 1. Valley worked as Batman
2. Valley acted as Batman
3. Valley functioned as Batman
retaning the meaning of original?


Thank you.

 

[andrewg927]

You could say Valley acted as the second Batman. Here Valley "acts" in the capacity as a second Batman. "function" means a totally different thing.

 

[hhtt21]

Which part do you not understand?

While Wayne was sick, Valley took on the job of being Batman.

Which one in the link fit for the sense in question?

http://www.wordwebonline.com/search.pl?w=serve

Thank you.

 

[tzfujimino]

#1 and/or #2, I think.
What do you think?

 

[Tdol]

Can we also say 1. Valley worked as Batman
2. Valley acted as Batman
3. Valley functioned as Batman
retaning the meaning of original?

Not really- he substituted for Batman while Bruce Wayne was injured.

 

[hhtt21]

#1 and/or #2, I think.
What do you think?

Yes, 1 or 2 but if what Batman do is 10, 10 could be correct as well. Because I cannot determine I asked it.

 

[hhtt21]

Not really- he substituted for Batman while Bruce Wayne was injured.

"He substituted for Batman when/while Bruce Wayne was injured." is exactly correct but one of the hearts of the question is that cannot be this process called as "He acted as Batman"? Cannot "He acted as Batman" mean "He took his job and did what former one do", at least with enough context? For example :"Because Bruce Wayne was injured, he gave his mission to Jean Paul Valley and Jean Paul Valley acted/served as Batman"

Thank you.

 

[hhtt21]

There are many ways that one could say that Valley 'became' Batman while Bruce Wayne was unable to carry out his Batman role. The writer of your original sentence chose to us 'served as'.

'Valley served as Batman' does not mean exactly the same as' Valley acted as Batman' or 'Valley took the job of Batman' or 'Valley played the part of Batmen', etc, and these alternatives do not mean exactly the same as each other. The words an individual chooses to say/write depend on the picture of the situaton they have in their mind. None of the sentences I have suggested is necessarily more or less appropriate that any of the others.

Then do author think that both Bruce Wayne and Jean Paul give a free service to their society fighting agaist criminal as Batman exactly like charity organizations do?

Thank you.

 

[hhtt21]

es

You are trying to read things into the word 'serve'. that are not necessarily there. We have already said that Act to fulfil a purpose, role, or function and Do duty or holdoffice; perform a specificfunction (the definitions you linked to in post #5) cover the general idea of the meaning of the word.Don't try to add extra ideas such as 'free'

I understand but 1 and 2, "act to fulfil a purpose" and "do duty or holdoffice; perform a specification" are given differently. Context is clear so which one should be fit?

Thank you.

 

[hhtt21]

:silly:

Please stop trying to shoehorn the meaning of words in utterances into one and only one narrow definition in one dictionary.

it is, relying on one source, is my casual and long-lasting mistake. I will try to fix this. I thought there was a difference between 1 and 2 for this context. But please let me establish a logical relationship between examples.

1."The tree stump serves as a table" ( I understand that people use it as a table because the stump can do what )
2. "Valley served for awhile as the second Batman when Bruce Wayne's spine was crippled" ( I understand that Valley took the role of batman and did Batman's mission.)

3. "Before retiring, the professor served as a high school teacher."

Are verbs "to serve" identical in meaning in these three examples?

Thank you.

 

[Rover_KE]

No. The OP has been dealt with.

As for the others, you can't use the professor as a table and a tree stump can' t teach high school.

 

[hhtt21]

You can tell from your own glosses of the meanings of the sentence that the first 'serve' does not mean exactly the same as the second and third.

Equally, your knowledge of the fact that 'Batman' is not really a job in the sense that 'teacher' is tells the that the meanings of 'serve' in the second and third sentences are not identical. However, for practical purposes, there is no significant difference in meaning. in those sentences.

Yes, I tried to discuss the main idea of the verb and I think it is "to carry out or fulfill a job, a mission or sort of thing."

Thank you.

 

[Tdol]

Are verbs "to serve" identical in meaning in these three examples?

You should be able to answer that. Dictionaries are not giving out the laws of nature- they are trying to describe meaning or words in words, which is all they have. A better question would be to ask whether there was some sort of common thread. I can see a common thread, but that doesn't make it identical. Science can express many things in formula. Language is by its very nature less exact. If dictionaries were as exact as a mathematical formula, they would all use exactly the same words in all definitions. A word's usage in context may be similar to more than one of the given definitions- the definitions are just trying to capture as many possibilities as they can