Firstly, what is the difference between offending and insulting?
Personally I think if you insult someone, you make nasty remarks about someone, whereas if you offend someone you insult someone but not on purpose. Like ‘His last novel offended me extremely.’
Secondly: How come your care came to be parked in front of the embassy? Can you replace ‘came to be’ with was? I heard that line in NCIS Los Angeles.
I’d love to hear what you think @Arinker, @NearlyNapping, @Torsten.
Thanks in advance.
Insult is the word that normal people use. Offensive is the word that spoiled princesses use when everything doesn’t go their way in their imaginary fantasy world.
You have the intentional part right. Insulting someone is usually intentional. Offending someone can be just about anything, real or imagined.
“Was” is much preferred. Nobody would say “came to be” in that sentence except Hollywood writers.
Thank you very much NN.
A related expression I sometimes use is ‘no offence’.
I think that Merriam-Webster has a good description of these sometimes synonyms. [I edited this a bit.]
“OFFEND, INSULT mean to cause hurt feelings or deep resentment. OFFEND need not imply an intentional hurting but it may indicate merely a violation of the victim’s sense of what is proper or fitting. INSULT suggests deliberately causing humiliation, hurt pride, or shame.”
This is short for “no offense meant” or “What I just said was not intended to offend you.”
Here they are emphasizing how the car got there. If you use “was”, you’re asking why it was there.
The question is a bit awkward using come and came in different ways in the same sentence.
They could have said one of these:
“How did your car come to be parked in front of the embassy?”
“Why was your car parked in front of the embassy?”
Thank you for your wonderful analysis, Arinker.
That’s true, I’ve heard it a lot.
Hi NN,
Speaking of Hollywood writers, I have a sentence that I would like you to read and, if necessary, correct.
Alexis to Sable: ‘I hear you’ve been chasing Blake and Dex, since I left, but you didn’t get very far with Dex, did you?’
You have to know that Alexis is back in Denver when she says that to Sable and Sable is also in Denver. So, they’re both at the same place, at the same time when Alexis throws that in Sable’s face.
Why do some Hollywood writers spend so very little attention to the dialogues they write? I’d very much like to hear your opinion.
Thanks in advance.
“Since I left” describes the time period from when Alexis left to just now when she returned.
I think it’s OK except for the first comma. That should be omitted. The words are continuous with no pause.
If the word was ‘sense’ rather than ‘since’ then the comma might be optional. With “since” it should not be used. It’s interesting that either word can work in this sentence to give it two different meanings. One is a time frame and the other is a reason.
As for Hollywood writers, they are a strange lot. Hollywood people are not normal. When I was younger I hung out a little with some acting types. I even went to some parties that were almost entirely actors. It was a strange experience.
They are taught to be overly dramatic because they have to be for stage acting. It carries over into their daily lives. I remember one party I went to where I don’t think a single person there “turned off” their act the entire 2-3 hours I was there. It was non-stop drama. They couldn’t even open a beer or sit in a chair without being dramatic about it.
They must be a very insecure bunch too, then? However, thank you for sharing this.
Thank you very much Arinker.