Old people

[tufguy]

Hi guys,

Please check. "If the old people used to work hard then they wouldn't have been suffering from obesity or wouldn't have suffered from obesity".

 

[Barb_D]

I have no idea what this is supposed to mean.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Will it be meaningful if 'work hard' is changed to 'work out hard'?

 

[Raymott]

Will it be meaningful if 'work hard' is changed to 'work out hard'?

No. For old people "working out" was meaningless - unless it meant calculating something by hand.

 

[Raymott]

Hi guys,

Please check. "If the old people used to work hard then they wouldn't have been suffering from obesity or wouldn't have suffered from obesity".

tufguy, you can't keep quoting something and then putting other stuff in the quotes. Can I suggest you do this:
"If the old people used to work hard then they wouldn't have been suffering from obesity" or "...wouldn't have suffered from obesity".
The 'or' doesn't belong in quotes, and two alternative phrases don't belong in the same quotes. You are doing well to use quotes, but you can't just add other stuff between them.

"If old people had worked hard, they would not now be suffering from obesity." Is that what you mean?

 

[Matthew Wai]

For old people "working out" was meaningless

The OP said 'used to'. Old people used to be young.

Not a teacher.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

Exactly.

If people who are now old had worked hard when they were young, they wouldn't now be suffering from obesity.

 

[Matthew Wai]

But I think 'worked hard' relates to 'poverty' more than 'obesity'. Am I wrong?

 

[Raymott]

The OP said 'used to'. Old people used to be young.

Not a teacher.

Yes, they used to be young, when "working out" meant something completely different.
Are you saying there's a difference between the OPs "If the people used to ..." and my "If old people had ..." apart from that mine is grammatical?

PS: And where does poverty enter into it?

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

@Matthew. I wasn't commenting on the validity of the statement, just on what I thought the OP intended.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Yes, they used to be young, when "working out" meant something completely different ... PS: And where does poverty enter into it?

I mean:
1. If they had worked out hard, they would not have suffered from obesity.
2. If they had worked hard, they would not now be suffering from poverty.
Are they possible?


Not a teacher.

 

[Raymott]

1. If they had worked out hard, they would not have suffered from obesity.
2. If they had worked hard, they would not now be suffering from poverty.

Yes they are both correct. So are these:
"If old people had worked hard when they were young, they would be able to afford rich, fat- and sugar-filled food, and this would lead to obesity, as is so common in the western world."
"If they had not worked hard, they would be poor and most likely not obese."

 

[Barb_D]

The point being made is that even a person who was the most dedicated exercise enthusiast in his or her youth can become overweight as time goes on.

"Working hard" does not mean exercise.

And hard work does not always lead to material wealth. Sometimes bad things happen even to hard workers.

 

[Raymott]

The point being made is that even a person who was the most dedicated exercise enthusiast in his or her youth can become overweight as time goes on.

Possibly. But you said you couldn't understand the original. Who has been making the point you mention? We have all been making different points.

 

[tufguy]

I meant people in old times not old people. Now tell.

 

[Raymott]

Then the sentence has the errors already discussed, plus a new one. I don't think we need to go over the whole thing again. Why not try a new thread with a fresh sentence about people from olden times?

 

[Matthew Wai]

Are they called 'ancient people'?

 

[Raymott]

Not usually. There are people from ancient civilizations. But olden times usually means anything from fifty to a few hundred years ago. Old people sometimes say "I remember the old times ..." If you're going to talk about "old times" without context, you'd need to be more explicit about how old you mean though.