Wait, what? Is it just me?

[Jonathan Lighter]

I saw the contrast too, but it took me two readings to understand it,
and even then the manner of emphasis seemed inept. The sentence is
defensible logically but not stylistically.  It sounds like it was written
by a freshman, used to simpler structures, who was trying unsuccessfully to
sound like a pro.

JL




On Mon, Sep 3, 2012 at 10:05 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Wait, what? Is it just me?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Mon, Sep 3, 2012 at 8:37 PM, Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:
> > Although that's an odd use of "but" in The Atlantic,  the sentence from
> Time seems to me completely unremarkable.  I have no trouble seeing the
> contrast between New Orleans, where most levees held (implying relatively
> little damage), and the more problematic situation in Haiti, where the
> hurricane cause multiple deaths and presumably other harm as well.
>
> I see.
>
> By contrast, the failure of the levees in Haiti resulted in the deaths
> of 24 people.
>
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
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