more taboo avoidance

[victor steinbok]

It's not that I wanted Wilson to have conniptions on the subject, but I
actually debated with myself as to which article to put in. In the end, I
decided it made no difference. If you don't like it, teach me something
new...

VS-)

On Sat, Aug 13, 2011 at 6:43 PM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom.com>wrote:

> On Aug 13, 2011, at 3:25 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>
> > On Fri, Aug 12, 2011 at 12:20 PM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >> the benefit of _a_ doubt
> >
> > Not
> >
> > _the benefit of _the_ doubt"
> >
> > ?
> >
> > Is
> >
> > _the benefit of the doubt
> >
> > going the way of
> >
> > _on the average_
> >
> > _hit the wall_
> >
> > _in the zone_
> >
> > _drive …  up the wall_
> >
> > etc.?
> > --
>
> IMHO there are quite a few of these.
>
> The articles "a" and "the" are frequently indistinguishable in speech,
> meaning that people are necessarily going to reanalyze them.
>
> Another complicating factor is that in many cases, either article can be
> used: (She got) a/the chance, (There is) a/the risk of...
>
> Benjamin Barrett
> Seattle, WA
>

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