streusle
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nert-nlp
Constructions in STREUSLE
Use this thread to make note of interesting constructions where a words-with-spaces MWE analysis is unsatisfying because there is constrained productivity in certain parts of the expression.
`$ makes it easy to find idioms with an opaque possessive slot (e.g. "quick on X's feet").
a good MEASUREMENT
Colloquial. "Good" is inserted after the indefinite article in a measure expression to emphasize the largeness or fullness of the quantity. Often "good" is followed by a quantifier + noun.
Less colloquial alternative: "Full".
STREUSLE attestation: "after a good few minutes"
- Issue: normally a_few is treated as an MWE. Is that still the case here?
Durations
- it took a good long while
- it took a good 10 minutes
- *it took a good hour/eternity
No quantifier
- Wait a good hour before eating (WordReference)
Non-temporal quantities
- There were a good many people at the meeting. (Merriam-Webster)
Definite article
- ?The good hour that I sat in the waiting room was ridiculous.
WH (in) the hell
Colloquial. Inserting "in the hell" or "the hell" after a question word expresses surprise/indignation.
STREUSLE attestation: "why in the hell would you name your business something that has the initials KKK"
Treating why_in_the_hell as an MWE, but it could also be what/who/where/how.
It sounds odd to do this if the WH-word is the object of a preposition:
- ??From where in the hell did you get that?
- ??Until when in the hell will this party be going on?
Free relative clauses are better:
- I don't know how in the hell we're supposed to finish in time.
See http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jlawler/aue/thehell.html (John Lawler)