Can you say: Our company broke even half a year ago. And When the 90's Dallas Cowb

[B45]

Can you say:

Our company broke even half a year ago.

And

When the 90's Dallas Cowboys broke up I stopped watching football.

And

The football team broke up because the coach was forced to quit.

Are all three okay?

Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[Rover_KE]

Yes, but 'six months ago' is more usual than 'half a year ago' in BE at least.

Thanksgiving was yesterday.

 

[Jill Dorchester]

Thanksgiving was yesterday.

Americans like to extend Thanksgiving as much as we can, so even though the actual holiday was Thursday, the entire weekend is more or less "Thanksgiving", since we're still eating turkey dinner leftovers, shopping Black Friday specials, puttiing up Christmas decorations and digesting turkey dinner leftovers through Sunday. :-D

When the 90's Dallas Cowboys broke up I stopped watching football.

Most NFL teams don't "break up".....they either disband (rarely) or get sold to a new city (more common). In this case, the Dallas Cowboys are still alive and playing. What you would say is something like "I stopped watching football after the 1990s-era Cowboys" or "The 1990s Cowboys was the last worthwhile team; I stopped watching football after that."

 

[B45]

So it's wrong to say broke up?

What about:

The Chicago Bulls broke up in the 90s.

 

[Jill Dorchester]

So it's wrong to say broke up?

What about:

The Chicago Bulls broke up in the 90s.

Yes, it is incorrect, since the Chicago Bulls is still an active team in the NBA.

 

[B45]

Okay, I understand your logic now.

I stopped watching basketball when MJ and the Bulls broke up in the 90's. Better?

 

[MikeNewYork]

Not much better. You could say "when MJ left the Bulls".

 

[B45]

I've posted a link to an article from the guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2013/may/03/joy-of-six-teams-broke-up

How come they used broke up in the article?

Thanks.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I have no idea.

 

[B45]

Is it still considered wrong then?

 

[MikeNewYork]

It is grammatical, but it is not normal usage for me.

 

[SoothingDave]

It's not normal, at least in AmE. Sports teams don't break up. Even when there is a core of players on a successful team, they don't "break up." They, separately, retire or move on to other teams. There is no one definitive moment when the "team," as it is known suddenly ceases to be.

It's not like a rock band that "breaks up" and announces to its fans that they will play together no more.