lunes, 2 de mayo de 2016

What does it mean table or what does table mean?



I have just read this question on the internet, in a blog on language: “What does it mean to go viral?”
If we duplicate that patern we could ask: What does it mean to fall? What does it mean to go? What does it mean to go stuff yourself with peanuts? Or even... what does it mean table?
For some reason this brings to mind the new way the French word questions: Vous allez où? You go where?, instead of where are you going? (Où allez-vous?) But that is French and I am writing about English.
Simplify all the time. Stick to the old-fashioned: What does “go viral” mean? If it is plural we must write: What do “pears and melons” mean? This is the pattern: What does xxxxx mean? (singular.) What do xxxxx mean? (plural.)
Also old-fashioned but very efficient: What is the meaning of “go viral?”
And if you want to have a good laugh, check the answer to the simple question “should I say what does it means or what does it mean? here:
http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/27120/should-i-say-what-does-it-means-or-what-does-it-mean

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