a dark past

[thru]

If someone was abused or abandoned as a child, can I say

"they have a dark past of being abused/being abandoned as a child?"

Is it OK to use 'a dark past' in that way?

 

[emsr2d2]

If someone was abused or abandoned as a child, can I say "They have a dark past. of being They were abused/being abandoned as a child"?

Is it OK to use 'a dark past' in that way?

The phrase itself is OK but you can't say "a dark past of ...". It needed to be broken into two sentences as shown above.

 

[emsr2d2]

Note that saying that someone has a dark past can also have a more sinister meaning, such as they used to be a criminal or have been in prison or something similar.

 

[thru]

Do you mean the sentence "They have a dark past. They were abused/ abandoned as a child" is correct?

 

[emsr2d2]

Do you mean the sentences "They have a dark past. They were abused/ abandoned as a child" is are correct?

Do you think I would have written them that way if they were incorrect?

 

[Tarheel]

@thru I think "unhappy childhood" applies better in your example.

 

[thru]

I wonder if the 3 examples of 'dark past of' below are correct. are they correct?

1. He's trying to escape his dark past of accidentally killing a guy by doing good.
("his" emphasizes his involvement. "His dark past of killing a guy.")

2.He's trying to escape the dark past of accidentally killing a guy by doing good.

("the" emphasizes the event. He might not be responsible.)

3. He's trying to escape the dark past of his colleague by quitting work.

(In this example, the colleague is the bad guy. So it's "the dark past," not "his dark past.")

source: https://hinative.com/questions/14944939

 

[Tarheel]

When you hear that somebody has a dark past you don't think it applies to a single incident.

It's not an everyday expression.

I can't quite figure out why you want to use that one. What would it apply to?

If I said somebody has a dark past I would probably mean that he has a history of criminal behavior.

 

[thru]

The phrase itself is OK but you can't say "a dark past of ...". It needed to be broken into two sentences as shown above.

1. He's trying to escape his dark past of accidentally killing a guy by doing good.

2.He's trying to escape the dark past of accidentally killing a guy by doing good.

3. He's trying to escape the dark past of his colleague by quitting work.

I originally wanted to ask if the three sentences above are used correctly.

emsrd2d mentioned "you can't say a dark past of ... It needed to be broken into two sentences" but those sentences pattern above doesn't follow the sentence pattern as emsrd2d mentioned in the earlier post. If they are wrong, how should I rephrase them?

Can I say " He's trying to escape his dark past by doing good. He accidentally killing a guy " in example 1?

And in example 3 "He's trying to escape the dark past by quitting work because his colleague has a dark past ."

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[Tarheel]

He's trying to escape the dark past by quitting work because his colleague has a dark past .

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That one doesn't make any sense at all.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say. You certainly can't escape from somebody else's dark past.

I suppose you could make up for something you did. (Or at least try to.)

If I had accidentally killed somebody I would probably feel bad about it. That would not in any case constitute a dark past. It would be a single regrettable incident.