| 1.
We shall leave at eight o’clock, unless it rains. |
|
| It is raining. The wind is too strong. It rains. We are staying home. We shall miss the swim. | |
| (Such a day may be traced back
to the fifteenth century.) |
|
| It is sunny. We can have the race! We will not go to the movies and we will not go
to the party. We go on the picnic! |
|
| 2.
You may have some candy, or you may have some ice cream, but not both. |
|
| (The saying has no relationship at all
to the medieval custom. I think it is likely that it is a literal statement.) |
|
| How do you feel about this procedure? | |
| 3.
Either Betty or Carol spilled the milk and did not wipe it up. |
|
| (One would expect a story, but none has been found. We’ll do a little guessing….) | |
| If Bill is guilty… | |
| (I think it more likely that some irreverent American may have used it.) | |
| 4.
Noone likes anyone who hits his sister. |
(Anything furnishes a cause for disagreement!) |
| One always hurts someone he knows. | |
| That won’t work. | |
| 5.
If Tom is drinking champagne, then he has won the race. You will find him if you turn right at the corner. |
|
| (A spectacular success when defeat seems inevitable.) |
—Romana Prokopiw
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