[Grammar] Pass Over

[EverLivingPoet]

"Peter was passed over for promotion by Michael."

Does the sentence mean: Micheal didn't promote Peter, or Micheal got promoted ahead of Michael?

 

[MASM]

"Peter was passed over for promotion by Michael."

Hi!

I think this might mean that Michael didn't even think about giving Peter a promotion.

 

[Raymott]

"Peter was passed over for promotion by Michael."

Does the sentence mean: Micheal didn't promote Peter, or Micheal got promoted ahead of Michael?

It means that Michael promoted somebody else instead of Peter. There's no implication that Michael didn't consider Peter for the job; but in the end, he didn't choose him.

 

[EverLivingPoet]

"Peter was repeatedly passed over for promotion by others who had inferior sales numbers."

Would "pass over" have a slightly different meaning here?

 

[SoothingDave]

No, same idea. He was not given a promotion.

 

[Raymott]

"Peter was repeatedly passed over for promotion by others who had inferior sales numbers."

Would "pass over" have a slightly different meaning here?

No. The meaning remains the same. There was a pomotion coming up; Peter was a candidate; he wasn't chosen. This happened a few times and the people who got the job are not as good as Peter.

Why should there be a slight difference in meaning? You might have more of an idea of management's opinion of Peter by now, but the verb still means the same. "Passed over" doesn't imply one way or the other whether Peter was considered for job. But, Peter must be somewhere is the hierarchical order, or in a promotable place, to say that he was "passed over".

 

[EverLivingPoet]

So, the "passing over" must ALWAYS be done by someone doing the promoting?

 

[Raymott]

So, the "passing over" must ALWAYS be done by someone doing the promoting?

Of course; that's what it means. If there's one job, and Peter and Tom are the two candidates, you pass over Peter simply by promoting Tom. Being passed over is a side effect. It's not a separate action.

 

[bhaisahab]

So, the "passing over" must ALWAYS be done by someone doing the promoting?

Yes.

 

[5jj]

So, the "passing over" must ALWAYS be done by someone doing the promoting?

The expression is most commonly used in the passive.

Although the passing over can be 'done' only by the person who is doing the promoting, the focus of attention is on the person who was not promoted.

 

[EverLivingPoet]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/business/07gender.html

"A third woman, Amy Velez of Laurel, Md., the lead plaintiff, had twins in 2001. She said in an affidavit that she was repeatedly passed over for promotion by men who had inferior sales numbers."

So the "men", her colleagues, "passed over" Velez and got promoted?

 

[SoothingDave]

"Passed over by" describes the person doing the passing over. "Passed over for" describes the person who got the promotion.

 

[curates-egg]

Sex Bias Suit Against Novartis to Start - NYTimes.com

"A third woman, Amy Velez of Laurel, Md., the lead plaintiff, had twins in 2001. She said in an affidavit that she was repeatedly passed over for promotion by men who had inferior sales numbers."

So the "men", her colleagues, "passed over" Velez and got promoted?

Too fast. You clearly had that one up your sleeve. You need to leave at least twenty minutes if you want to appear convincing.

 

[Raymott]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/business/07gender.html

"A third woman, Amy Velez of Laurel, Md., the lead plaintiff, had twins in 2001. She said in an affidavit that she was repeatedly passed over for promotion by men who had inferior sales numbers."

So the "men", her colleagues, "passed over" Velez and got promoted?

I see what you mean. Yes, if the context indicates, a person can be "passed over for promotion" by the person who gets the promotion, rather than the person who promotes/doesn't promote them. (I missed that subtlety in my last post)

 

[5jj]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/business/07gender.html
"A third woman, Amy Velez of Laurel, Md., the lead plaintiff, had twins in 2001. She said in an affidavit that she was repeatedly passed over for promotion by men who had inferior sales numbers."

Rather off-topic, but I wonder why the writer felt the need to mention her twins.

 

[SoothingDave]

Probably cause her maternity leave was cited by the company as a defense for why she was not promoted.