dashing

Dashing is a very outmoded adjective. Your definition is sufficient in this case. I would advise you, however, that unless you're writing cheap advertising copy for motion pictures, or cheap romance novels for women, there should never be a situation in which you use the word dashing. Unless, of course, you mean someone who is in a hurry and running, such as dashing for the bus stop.

Setanta- I don't know. I always pictured YOU as "dashing"!

Hi Setanta, I'd like to keep your advice in mind. But still, I'd like to hear what will other mavens give their opinion on this.


(2) How To Make Your Man Behave in 21 Days or Less Using the SECRETS of Professional DOG TRAINERS

Does the sentence above mean:

With 21 Days or Less, Using the SECRETS of Professional DOG TRAINERS to make your man behave in a proper way?

(1) What does "dashing" mean here? I prefer that it means "audacious and gallant; spirited", and it doesn't mean "marked by showy elegance; splendid".

Oristar, There's not enough context here to know which of these definitions is the right one. Are you reading a classic?

Phoenix, such flattery, plus a buck and a half, will get you a bus ride across town . . .

Oristar, yes, i believe you have correctly stated the dog trainer thing.

Should be "In 21 days or less".

What the person is saying is that in three weeks or less, a woman (or a man, if the guy is gay) can train his/her man to behave as he/she wants, utilizing the methods that are used by professional dog trainers.


But would a woman WANT a guy who could be trained like a dog?

of course she would . . .

oristar's original quote re: dashing is from a plot summary of the film Pirates of the Carribean.

Hi mac 11, you've got it exactly! Pirates of the Caribbean-- The Curse of Black pearl. I just got the brief introduction of the film, Roberta.

Hi Phoenix, "with" can mean " in the course of", like "with every day" or "We grow older with the hours". Is it as the same as yours? ( It seems I've smelt a little difference between the two, but I could not tell it. )

PS. in the course of = during the course of

Oristar- the only way "with" would work, IMO, is if you said something like, "With only twenty one days or less to accomplish the task...............".

The way that you wrote it did not sound correct to me.

ROBERTA, HELP! I need a 2nd opinion!

How about this Oristar.

In only twenty one days or less, we can help you to train your man, using
the secrets of professional dog trainers. The original was poorly written. Probably should had said, "within twenty one days or less"

I saw the movie, and I think Commodore Norrington IS "marked by showy elegance; splendid" -- that is, he looks like a "perfect catch" (a good husband for Governor Swann's daughter) but it's all show; he isn't as good a person as the lower-class man she's actually in love with... I suppose Gov. Swann thinks he's "audacious and gallant; spirited", but his daughter doesn't!

and twenty-one (and twenty-two, etc.) should be hyphenated...

"Dashing" and pirate lore share a relationship of collocation.

yes, Craven. Agreed (whatever collocation means)

Other terms for dashing:

flamboyant--swashbuckling

Prepositions!!! Phooey.

(2) How To Make Your Man Behave in 21 Days or Less Using the SECRETS of Professional DOG TRAINERS

Does the sentence above mean:

With 21 Days or Less, Using the SECRETS of Professional DOG TRAINERS to make your man behave in a proper way?


"With" works only if it suggests that the person has 21 days or less. The better word is "in." But more is wrong. What's missing is a sentence. By rewording the original, you remove the advertising copy approach. What you're left with is something that dangles.

By using SECRETS of Professional DOG TRAINERS, you can make your man behave in 21 days or less.

I don't know what my swash is, much less how to buckle it . . .

er, Roberta. I thought I did that. We all know that advertising takes great liberties with the language.

Once you find your swash, grasshopper, the buckles will appear...

Letty,

Collocation has the same root in Latin as many words that mean "put" or "place".

So in grammar it refers to a tendency to use certain words together. It's a tendency of "placement" that has no real logic except said tendency.