negation again, and coordination too

[Gwyn Alcock]

Please be gentle in your corrections ...

Why can't one say
(4) ... a decision no president would ask for, but each must be prepared to make
?
G. Alcock

---- American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> wrote:
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>
> Subject:      Re: negation again, and coordination too
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> >(1) ...a decision no president would ask for, but must be prepared to
> >make.
> >
> >(2) ...a decision any president wouldn't ask for, but must be prepared
> >to make.
> >
> >(3) ...a decision no president would ask for, but any president must be
> >prepared to make.
> >
> >(that would have been my choice), but (3) is longer than the
> >alternatives, and the repeated "president" puts a lot of weight on the
> >presidency, when the speechwriters probably wanted to keep the decision
> >in the foreground, so they went for (1).
> >
> >but how do others judge (1)?  especially with respect to (2).
>
> I see (1) as natural (but wrong), (2) as unnatural (and wrong), (3) as OK
> (maybe a little clumsy).
>
> -- Doug Wilson
>
>

====
Gwyn Alcock
Statistical Research, Inc.
Redlands, California