Opera ...

[Mills Charles]

Notice, though, that "see" begins to sound much better in tag questions:

- I went to the opera last night.
- Oh yeah? ...
a.  What did you see?
b. %What did you hear?

The preference for vision is most pronounced over the radio when the host's only choice is to say "See you tomorrow" (*"Hear you tomorrow"), unlike the case in German and Czech.  I've even heard the blind use "See you later"!

CM

---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: Michael Denner <mdenner at STETSON.EDU>
Reply-To: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list <SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU>
Date:          Fri, 10 Mar 2006 14:08:30 -0500

>I agree entirely with Vera -- "to hear an opera" has a distinctly
>1930-ish, New Yorker air to my Midwestern ear. I would never say it
>myself, immediately recognizing it as an affectation; but I would
>approve of its anachronistic and smug ring, nonetheless. Nor would I
>ever say "see an opera" (very gauche!) -- instead, I'd just
>circum-locute the problem with "went to" or "attended."

---
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