[General] I'm not

[maiabulela]

The girl says when asked about where has she been going

"Yeah, well... You want to know where I'm going? I'm going to Sixth and Fairfax, if you must know. I'll be there every night until I'm not."

What is the meaning of "until I'm not"???

 

[MASM]

The girl says when asked about where has she been going

"Yeah, well... You want to know where I'm going? I'm going to Sixth and Fairfax, if you must know. I'll be there every night until I'm not."

What is the meaning of "until I'm not"???

It probably means that she's going to be wherever she's going every night but there might be a moment when she's not going to be there. She's refusing to say where she's gone, so I assume that she's trying to confuse her interlocutor.

 

[emsr2d2]

The girl says when asked about where has she been going

"Yeah, well... You want to know where I'm going? I'm going to Sixth and Fairfax, if you must know. I'll be there every night until I'm not."

What is the meaning of "until I'm not"???

It basically means that she doesn't know how long she will be there for. She doesn't know when she will leave. The full sentence would be "I'll be there until I'm not there any more". She initially says that she'll be there "every night". At some point, a night will come when she isn't there. It's a slightly sarcastic sentence, to be honest.

 

[maiabulela]

So can we rephrase it as "I'll be there every night and (I'll "keep" going there?"

Thanks.

 

[emsr2d2]

So can we rephrase it as "I'll be there every night and (I'll "keep" going there?"

Thanks.

Well, you could but you would lose the meaning. The point of the end of the sentence is that she wants to make it clear that at some point she WON'T go there.

 

[maiabulela]

The thing is i need to translate it. So if I transalted it as"
"I'll go there tonight and until i the time comes and i dont go there, it would be redundancy!!"

Can I say "I'll go there till I "decide" not to go anymore"?

 

[emsr2d2]

The thing is i need to translate it. So if I transalted it as"
"I'll go there tonight and until i the time comes and i dont go there, it would be redundancy!!"

Can I say "I'll go there till I "decide" not to go anymore"?

I think the closest you'll get to a sentence that can be directly translated would be "I'll be there every night until, one night, I'm not there."

 

[maiabulela]

Yes, but i don't understand this "I'm not" thing!! that was my question. What does she means by "till i'm not there"??? :-cry:

 

[emsr2d2]

Yes, but i don't understand this "I'm not" thing!! that was my question. What does she means by "till i'm not there"??? :-cry:

As I explained in my first response, she is saying that at some point in the future, she won't be there. She doesn't know when that day will come. She can't give the date of the first evening that she will first decide NOT to go to that place.

I can't tell you the grammatical structure used, but I can give more examples in the hopes that they help:

I have dyed my hair red. It will be red until.....well, until it's not. (I mean that I know that at some point in the future I will probably dye my hair a different colour and at that point, it won't be red any more).

The weather is great and it will remain great.......until it's not. (Again, there is no time specified. You don't know how long the weather will be good for, but at some point it's certain that it will change.)

 

[maiabulela]

yes the examples are so useful. So I an rephrase as:

"I'll keep going there till i don't know when" Can that go?

 

[emsr2d2]

yes the examples are so useful. So I an rephrase as:

"I'll keep going there till i don't know when" Can that go?

You can. It's not great grammar but colloquially it would be fine. You will still lose the slightly sarcastic nature of the original response but if that doesn't matter, then it's OK.

 

[TheParser]

The girl says when asked about where has she been going

"Yeah, well... You want to know where I'm going? I'm going to Sixth and Fairfax, if you must know. I'll be there every night until I'm not."

What is the meaning of "until I'm not"???

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Good morning, maiabulela.

(1) The other posters have done an excellent job in answering your question.

(2) May I just point out two things of possible interest to you:

(a) This is a somewhat rude way of talking that some young (and not so young) people like to use because they think it is "cool."

(i) Mr. Smith (the boss): Excuse me, could you tell me how long you will be at the cafeteria today?

Mona (employee): I will be at the cafeteria until I'm not.

(ii) I think Mona will be looking for a new job tomorrow.

(b) I just read this in today's newspaper. It's about a man who has been chosen to run (to manage) a radio station. He doesn't know how long he will have this job. He says: "Right now I run it (the radio station) day to day until I'm told I don't."

Have a nice day!

 

[MASM]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Good morning, maiabulela.

(1) The other posters have done an excellent job in answering your question.

(2) May I just point out two things of possible interest to you:

(a) This is a somewhat rude way of talking that some young (and not so young) people like to use because they think it is "cool."

(i) Mr. Smith (the boss): Excuse me, could you tell me how long you will be at the cafeteria today?

Mona (employee): I will be at the cafeteria until I'm not.

(ii) I think Mona will be looking for a new job tomorrow.

(b) I just read this in today's newspaper. It's about a man who has been chosen to run (to manage) a radio station. He doesn't know how long he will have this job. He says: "Right now I run it (the radio station) day to day until I'm told I don't."

Have a nice day!

I tought about that too. :-D