Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: Un dubbio grammaticale

Salve,
la forma verbale "to having" usata nella seguente frase secondo voi e'
corretta ?
"Thanksgiving is Nov. 25, a big holiday here, and I'm looking forward to
having some of my family here to eat dinner and to spend time with"
Grazie
Luca

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È coretta, ma non è la forma 'to having', sono le forme 'looking forward to' 
e 'having'. 

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Addendum:
Per consistenza, dovrebbe dire 'and to spending time with'. 

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Non è "to having", ma "<am looking forward to> <having>".
"I'm looking forward to [1]... to what? To... having some [...]"
"Having" è un un verbo sostantivato ("l'avere alcuni familiari a cena").
[1] O "I look forward to", perhaps more formal.
Bye, FB
-- 
L'importante è che risplenda tu, sola primadonna e immarcescibile leggenda
del tuo pianerottolo.
(Lucangel su it.cultura.libri)

 Per consistenza, dovrebbe dire 'and to spending time with'.
Sure? I don't think so.
Max

 Sure? I don't think so.
I probably would say 'and spending time with' but you can repeat the 'to'
from 'I'm looking forward to' before saying 'spending'.

 some of my family here to spend time with".
Ahh, I see what you're saying. I just assumed that the sentence was
continued after 'with' and that it was presented in partial form for
convenience. The phrasing didn't end with a period and I never end a
sentence with 'with'. (Okay, I did that time, but I really never do.) Thus,
your thinking is right:
Thanksgiving is Nov. 25, a big holiday here, and I'm looking forward to
having some of my family here to eat dinner and to spend time with.
Whereas my version would be:
Thanksgiving is Nov. 25, a big holiday here, and I'm looking forward to
having some of my family here to eat dinner and to spending time with them
while they're here.

Grazie per le risposte
Luca

 while they're here.
They're both fine, although I would leave out the "to" before "spending" in
Tony's version. It's a little awkward because of the multiple infinitives,
and the "to spending" equates with "to having", whereas it's immediately
preceded by "to eat", and that makes it a little odd-sounding.
(But obviously neither of you have had to spend the Thanksgiving Weekend
(Five Freakin' Days, if you count the opening Wednesday) with one's FAMILY,
you don't know what you're missing... and you're LUCKY!  LOL (Just
kidding... I love visiting my family. That way I can leave whenever I've
had enough.)
-- 
This is my opinion of modern, colloquial, American English. 
If you feel the need to e-mail me, un-not my address first.

 had enough.)
Lucky! That reminds me of "I should be so lucky", which I couldn't
understand. Today I had the chance to consult "A Comprehensive Grammar of
the English Grammar" (Longman): it says it is a Yiddishism (did you say so,
too?). Such are also "I should talk", if I remember rightly, and another
which I don't recall.
Bye, FB
-- 
"The doctors found out that Bunbury could not live, that is what I mean—so
Bunbury died."
"He seems to have had great confidence in the opinion of his physicians."
("The Importance of Being Earnest", Oscar Wilde)

 Bye, FB
A lot of Yiddish words and phrases have entered into English (at least
AmEng; BrEng, too? I don't know) especially in urban areas.
You can use it with just about anything to mean "if only":
I should (only) win the lottery!
The "should" construction is also heard in:
Such a pain only my enemy should know.
(note the inverted word order)
To know from <something> (to know about):
Do you know from the Shabbat service?
(Do you know about the Shabbat service?)
schlep: to carry (usually something heavy) around; to go fetch something
schmai: to run around and do a lot of things, to be busy (oddly enough,
this term, well-known in Boston, is practically unknown in NY)
klutz: awkward person
schlong: male organ of reproduction
and of course:
Ketzl: kitten (from Katz, cat; diminutive Ketzl)
By the way, do you know the difference between an Italian mother and a
Jewish mother?
(answer below)
The Italian mother says "Eat your chicken soup or I'll kill you!"
The Jewish mother says "Eat your chicken soup or I'll kill myself!"


 or I'll kill myself!"
 
"Eat your chicken soup or I'll kill daddy!"
-- 
Today no, tomorrow yes.

 The Jewish mother says "Eat your chicken soup or I'll kill myself!"
The Yiddische mame is the sort of mother who makes his son's bed when he
gets up at night to go for a pee.
I've read this in some book.
Bye, FB
-- 
"What meaning of this, Mitter Twain?" "I will tell you, Mr Wang, if you can
tell me why a man who possesses one of the most brilliant minds of this
century can't say his prepositions or articles"
(Murder by Death)

 AmEng; BrEng, too? I don't know) especially in urban areas.
Una delle differenze tra American English e British English è la tipologia
delle lingue "affluenti" e la loro influenza. Parole Yiddish in BrE ne sono
entrate, ma meno rispetto all'AmE.
http://snipurl.com/al2t
Sebastiano

Sebapop ha scritto:

inneresting. Thanks for the link.


 Per consistenza, dovrebbe dire 'and to spending time with'. 
Per "consistenza"??? Forse per "coerenza". Consistenza è una traduzione 
maccheronica di consistency...

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Tony is American.
Bye, FB
-- 
Se dico "siedi!" manca l'oggetto.
Siedo chi? Lei o me?
(da it.cultura.linguistica.italiano)

 maccheronica di consistency...
Grazie, mangio spesso i maccheroni. 

 Tony is American.
Pensi cosě? Forse č una mucca spagnola.

, 
CANCELLAREant...@yahoo.it
 says...
scusa, Tony, pensavo fossi italiano. Poiché sento spesso italiani che 
traducono consistency con consistenza, non mi sembrava fuori luogo come 
osservazione su un ng di linguistica

 osservazione su un ng di linguistica
In ogni caso, il tuo commento non era ineducato. Anche una persona 
madrelingua dovrebbe essere umile per imparare. 

, 
CANCELLAREant...@yahoo.it
 says...
Mi sono permesso di fare quel commento anche perché "consistency" è uno 
di quei termini tecnici che in italiano viene tradotto coi piedi, e 
purtroppo in letteratura (intesa nel senso di pubblicazioni 
scientifiche) si sono ormai affermate queste tradizioni barbare, che mi 
fanno davvero schifo. 
Una proprietà ottimale di una stima statistica è la "consistency", che 
ha senso se si parla di "coerenza", ma perde qualsiasi significato se si 
inizia a parlare di "consistenza" (vai a vedere se è una stima è 
molliccia oppure no?). Oppure ancora, tutti scrivono non che le ipotesi 
di un modello vengono indebolite/ridotte, ma che vengono "rilassate", 
perché in inglese si dice "relax". Ma come fai a rilassare un'ipotesi, 
le dai un po' di valium? 


We always said "schmuck" in my neighborhood.
I think "schlong" is a neologism, a replacement for the stronger, more
traditional "schmuck".
Joe from Massachusetts

 stronger, more traditional "schmuck".
Per caso, "schnuck" con la N significa qualcosa?
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ADPUF ha scritto:
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Probably spelled "schnook": it means a fool.


 Probably spelled "schnook": it means a fool.
"Jewnglish", I suppose.
However the pronunciation would be different.
Years ago I subscribed an e-mail account as "Schnucky 
Schnucker" ignoring its meaning.
BTW, I've read on my old dict. that "snooks!" is a 
word of sneer/flout/taunt/mockery/derision.
"Snook" sarebbe il "marameo!"  con la mano aperta davanti 
al naso?


 al naso?
I know the gesture you mean, and I do find it in M-W, but I've never heard
the term, so I think it's no longer used. (The term, that is. I get the
gesture all the time! :)
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No, just one of many Yiddish words incorporated into American English.
Kvetch, nudge, yenta, schlemiel, schlemazel, schmuck, schnook,
feygele, schlock, shtick, bubele, mensch, nebish, klutz - all Yiddish
words which are often heard on American TV programs and in American
films, especially those which take place in New York.
Joe from Massachusetts

 films, especially those which take place in New York.
Thanks, that's what I thought (not what I wrote, I'm scarce 
in the thought -> words connexion, even in Italian)
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ADPUF ha scritto:
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One of the attractions to Yiddish words in English is the "sch" prefix. It
often results in a rhyming-pattern expression:
Obligation, schmobligation.
Homework, schmomework.
Pickles, schmickles.
You can use it with just about anything to express derision or skepticism.
(I've just made all these up, but no one would wonder what I meant.)


 (answer below)
cut
and  listen to this one:
The Italian says, "I'm tired and thirsty. I must have wine."
The Frenchman says, "I'm tired and thirsty. I must have cognac."
The Russian says, "I'm tired and thirsty. I must have vodka."
The German says, "I'm tired and thirsty. I must have beer."
The Mexican says, "I'm tired and thirsty. I must have tequila."
The Jew says, "I'm tired and thirsty. I must have diabetes".
dicaduca