Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: or is it?

ciao.
risentivo ieri questo modo di dire, e volevo finalmente averla
compresa veramente.
grossomodo è:
(al posto di odd metteteci quello che volete)
"this is odd, or is it?" e mi sembra significhi pressappoco
"questo è strano, ma lo è veramente?"
ora vi chiedo una vostra opinione. è giusta la struttura da me
esemplificata? è giusto l'adattamento italiano? è più una frase
britannica, o è inglese in generale?
grazie e ciao
-Giovanni

Puo' essere utilizzata in tutte le varianti dell'inglese ed equivale a
"isn't it" ma aggiungendo la convinzione del parlante che quel che è
stato detto non possa essere altro che vero :)  una riformulazione
ancora più colloquiale potrebbe essere "is this odd or what?"
Cri
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 wrote in message 
news:e01ca2a3-3b22-45ae...@b35g2000yqi.googlegroups.com...
ciao.

grossomodo è:
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"Or is it?" is very common, but the example you give is not what I would 
call typical.
"This is odd, isn't it?" would be an ordinary tag question.
"Or is it?" is something more than a mere tag. It is used when the speaker 
is saying that what appears to be one thing is actually something quite 
different than appearances would seem to imply.
"Is it cold in here, or is it (just) me?"
Used standing alone, "or is it" suggests something much stronger.
As they enter an unfamiliar club in an unfamiliar section of town in the wee 
hours of the morning, one man says to his buddy, "This is definitely a 
straight bar." (After looking around for a few moments and observing the 
clientele, the speaker, now ill at ease, continues). "Or is it!?"   :>)
Imagine the narrator in the opening scene of a film, saying "Here we are in 
Smithville. Full of happy, normal people, Smithville is the ideal American 
town. (The soundtrack plays ominous-sounding music). Or is it?!" What 
follows will describe the evil that lurks beneath the surface.
Joe from Massachusetts
. 

 ancora più colloquiale potrebbe essere "is this odd or what?"
No, mi dispiace, quell'espressione non è pari. Significa che non c'è 
dubbio che 'this is odd' e invece 'or is it' è una vera domanda in cui 
il interlocutore chiede "do you, also, think this is odd?", "sì" o "no". 
Può anche essere l'introduzione per un cambio nel dialogo in cui il 
interlocutore commincia a presentare l'evidenza che, infatti, "this is 
NOT odd."

 wrote in message 
news:9lLUn.133$Hw...@newsfe10.iad...
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"Not that there's anything wrong with that", as Jerry Seinfeld would say. 
;>)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsvvriKI3qE
Joe from Massachusetts 

 ancora più colloquiale potrebbe essere "is this odd or what?"
sei sicuro?
a thing is something, or is it (really like that)?
a me sembra che significhi un'altra cosa.
provo con un altro esempio:
"1 + 1 is 2. or is it? actually 1+1 in BINARY is 10, which of course
means 2..."
che ne pensi?
-Giovanni

 che ne pensi?
Che è meglio se leggi cosa hanno scritto Tony e Joseph.

 follows will describe the evil that lurks beneath the surface.
yes, thank you
-giovanni


Is it cold in here, or is it just me (who feels the cold)?.
Is it cold in here, or is it just my imagination?.
We don't know whether it is really cold, or if the speaker is just imagining 
it.
Entirely different meaning from:
The people are really nice around here. (Then a maleducato bumps into him on 
the sidewalk). Or are they?
The people aren't as nice as he thought.
Joe from Massachusetts 

Giovanni Neiman wrote:
[...]
A “drug-free Parliament by 2020.” Iceland’s Best Party, founded in 
December by a comedian, Jon Gnarr, to satirize his country’s political 
system, ran a campaign that was one big joke. Or was it?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/26/world/europe/26iceland.html
Ciao,
Enrico il Pentolaio.

 different than appearances would seem to imply.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k5GC2XO8qU
-- 
Valjean