June 20th

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Jun 20, 2011 23:57
A little while ago, when I was writing a comment on someone’s entry, my cat walked on the keyboard.
I picked her up and down from the desk.
Beckett
Thank you for your correction!
Jun 21, 2011 00:10
  • I picked her up and down from the desk.

  • I picked her up and took her down from the desk.(Or, I picked her up and put her back on the floor.)

 

I miss owning a cat.
I don't miss cleaning up the hair, though...

Jun 21, 2011 20:25 mayumayu
Thank you for the corrections.
Yes, I bet you don’t miss cleaning up a cat’s hair.
We need a carpet taper to clean it.

tony
Thank you for your correction!
Jun 21, 2011 00:45
  • I picked her up and down from the desk.

  • I picked her up and removed her from the desk. [Alternative: "... got her off the desk." There are two problems with what you wrote. One is that it is short for the parallel construction "I picked her up and picked her down from the desk"-- "picked her down from the desk" would not be said. The other is that "up" and "down" are closely related words (opposites), so when you say "up and down" it tends to strike the ear as a unit, which is not what you wanted in this sentence.]

 

You should have looked at what she or he was trying to write first, and seen if it was a useful addition to your comments. ^^

Jun 21, 2011 20:36 mayumayu
Thank you for the corrections and explanations.
I have a question.
Do you say, “I sweep her up from the desk.”?
If I use “sweep”, does it sound like clearing up dust or snatching away from something?

Jun 22, 2011 00:54 tony
ええと・・・ "I swept her off the desk" sounds like you made a quick motion pushing her off the desk and let her fall. When you literally sweep dust on the floor, you don't hold onto the dust, so it doesn't convey an image of holding onto the cat after removing her from the desk. I think I would say something like "I grabbed her and put her on the floor"-- "grabbed," like "snatched," does suggest a sudden motion. I can't think of a single verb which describes what you are talking about.

Jun 22, 2011 00:59 tony
I still want to know what she was trying to type when you interrupted her.^^ There is a funny book in English called "Archy and Mehitabel." Archy was a free verse poet in a previous life, and has been reborn as a cockroach (he says as a punishment). He still has an irresistible urge to write, though, so he types in a newsroom at night by hurling himself at the keys of a typewriter, one by one. Mehitabel is a stray cat who claims to have been Cleopatra in one of her previous lives. The book is supposed to consist of the articles Archy types.

Jun 22, 2011 21:47 mayumayu
Actually she was trying to write something, but unfortunately it didn’t make any sense to me. It was like, “いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい”
I’ve never heard about the book.
It seems interesting!
Our cat might be a pianist.
We have a piano which hasn’t been played for over fifteen years. (What a shame!)
I’d like to make sure if she is trying to walk on the keyboard and play the music.

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