[Grammar] Siren songs

[Ashiuhto]

Please help me check the following sentence.

The ancient Greek sailors were afraid of hearing the enchanting music and voices of Sirens, which lured nearby sailors to steal/block the sailors’ aspiration/eagerness for returning home.

 

[Gillnetter]

Please help me check the following sentence.

The ancient Greek sailors were afraid of hearing the enchanting music and voices of Sirens, which lured nearby sailors to steal/block the sailors’ aspiration/eagerness for returning home.

To "lure" is to attract. The Sirens attracted sailors. The sailors were first lured, and then forced to come to the island where the Sirens were. Your sentence would be better if you wrote - "...which lured nearby sailors and stole (In the sense of, to take away) the sailor's desires to return home".

 

[SoothingDave]

I understood that Sirens caused the sailors to shipwreck. That's a bit more than taking away their desire to return home. It is removing their ability to return.

 

[Gillnetter]

I understood that Sirens caused the sailors to shipwreck. That's a bit more than taking away their desire to return home. It is removing their ability to return.

You are correct, but, prior to the time that the ships wrecked on the island, the sailor's intentions (hopes, desires, aspirations, plans) had to be changed by the songs of the Sirens. Absent the lure of the Sirens, the sailors would have sailed on to their homes.

 

[BobK]

Interesting Am Eng use of shipwreck/wreck. In Br English the verb is purely transitive: they were shipwrecked.

Carry on please. ;-)

b

 

[SoothingDave]

Interesting Am Eng use of shipwreck/wreck. In Br English the verb is purely transitive: they were shipwrecked.

Carry on please. ;-)

b

So, you've never wrecked a car? You've only had a car wrecked? I did not know that.

 

[MartinEnglish]

So, you've never wrecked a car? You've only had a car wrecked? I did not know that.

Cars are not ships

 

[5jj]

So, you've never wrecked a car? You've only had a car wrecked? I did not know that.

I think Bob was referring to this "... prior to the time that the ships wrecked on the island ..."

 

[emsr2d2]

We don't generally say that we "wrecked a car" though. We might say we crashed the car, and if it's not possible to repair it, then we wrote off the car. It's a write-off.

- Mum, I've crashed the car.
- What?! How much is it going to cost to fix?
- Oh, they can't fix it. I guess I should have said that I've written off the car.

 

[SoothingDave]

We don't generally say that we "wrecked a car" though. We might say we crashed the car, and if it's not possible to repair it, then we wrote off the car. It's a write-off.

- Mum, I've crashed the car.
- What?! How much is it going to cost to fix?
- Oh, they can't fix it. I guess I should have said that I've written off the car.

We say "totaled." If the cost to repair is more than the value of the car, it is totaled. You get a check and the insurance company takes your wrecked car.

 

[BobK]

So, you've never wrecked a car? You've only had a car wrecked? I did not know that.

Yes, I've wrecked a car, but my car has never wrecked. (It seems to me possible that the US use of total might have something to do with the French perte total, but I'd have to do some research into the growth of US motor insurance (perhaps starting in Louisiana...:-? ;-)) to be sure.

b

 

[Tdol]

We say "totaled." If the cost to repair is more than the value of the car, it is totaled. You get a check and the insurance company takes your wrecked car.

We total cars too, but we'd use a double L in the past simple.

 

[SoothingDave]

We total cars too, but we'd use a double L in the past simple.

I wasn't sure so I went with the spelling that my browser liked.

 

[Tdol]

My browser likes the double letter version- it's a BrE/AmE thing