Executed should be the man who bombed the mall yesterday

"Executed should be the man who bombed the mall yesterday."

On another forum, someone said, "The sentence order does not work."
Do you agree?

Matthew Wai said:

"Executed should be the man who bombed the mall yesterday."

On another forum, someone said, "The sentence order does not work."
Do you agree?

Click to expand...

Yes, I agree. It doesn't work.

It sounds like something Yoda would say. The standard, natural way of saying this is:

The man who bombed the mall yesterday should be executed.

"Evil is the man who bombed the mall yesterday."
How about this? A moderator said something in a similar construction in this post.

The moderater wrote "It sounds like an aphorism or proverb". Another said that it sounded like a translation.

"Evil is the man who bombed the mall yesterday" is not natural English.

In a blog about inversion, there is an example "So nervous was she that she spilled her coffee."
Is it unnatural too?

No, but that's with 'so'. You can't rephrase that to begin with the adjective.

Matthew Wai said:

"Evil is the man who bombed the mall yesterday."
How about this? A moderator said something in a similar construction in this post.

Click to expand...

Gosh. "A moderator." I wonder who. I find it vaguely insulting that you use the phrase "a moderator" when I'm someone who participates daily in the forum.

When you use this type of phrasing, you would usually talk about a TYPE of person - "Evil is the man who doesn't care for the lives he takes." Again, this sounds like a proverb or something. You are talking about ANY person who feels this way and saying any person who feels this way is evil. It's not a specific man.

You don't use it to say what you feel about a specific person who did a specific thing. The man who bombed the mall is evil.

You could also use this phrasing if you want to clarify what evil is.

You say your mother is evil for making you eat your vegetables? No, young man. "Evil" is the man who bombed the mall yesterday. Not a mother trying to make sure you grow up strong and healthy.

Barb_D said:

I find it vaguely insulting that you use the phrase "a moderator" when I'm someone who participates daily in the forum.

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No one told me "a moderator" is an insulting phrase, I considered it an honourable title. I will mention you by name next time, Barb_D.
Any other unwritten rules here?

Matthew Wai said:

No one told me "a moderator" is an insulting phrase, I considered it an honourable title.

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Of course it isn't insulting, and Barb did not say it was. She was referring to the use of this impersonal term when her name clearly known. This form of impersonal distancing can, in English, imply disapproval.

Any other unwritten rules here?

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Hundreds. We assume that most members are civilised people and don't need to be reminded of common courtesies, use of inappropriate language, avoidance of snarkiness, etc.

Also, MatthewWei, if you know the name of the moderator (or any other user) who posted something you quote, it's much simpler for all concerned if you name them. In the case of the sentence you quoted I, and probably several other moderators, read it thinking "Hmm, was that me? Was I the moderator who wrote that sentence? I don't specifically remember doing so but I post a lot of responses here and it might have been me". If we'd all known from the outset that it wasn't us, and BarbD had known it was her, half this thread wouldn't have happened.