Lycinus
Now, can you tell me the difference between ‘setting’ and ‘sitting,’ or between ‘be seated ’ and ‘sit’?
Now, can you tell me the difference between ‘setting’ and ‘sitting,’ or between ‘be seated ’ and ‘sit’?
Purist
No; but I have heard you say that ‘sit yourself’ is a barbarism,;
No; but I have heard you say that ‘sit yourself’ is a barbarism,;
Lycinus
Yes, quite so; but now I tell you that ‘be seated ’ is not the same as ‘sit.’
Yes, quite so; but now I tell you that ‘be seated ’ is not the same as ‘sit.’
Purist
Why, what may the difference be?
Why, what may the difference be?
Lycinus
When a man is on his legs, you can only tell him to be seated; but if he is seated already, you can tell him to sit still. Sit where thou art; we find us seats: elsewhere. It means ‘remain sitting,’ you see. Here again we have to say that it is a mistake to reverse the expressions. And as to ‘set’ and ‘sit,’ surely it is the whole difference between transitive and intransitive?
When a man is on his legs, you can only tell him to be seated; but if he is seated already, you can tell him to sit still. Sit where thou art; we find us seats: elsewhere. It means ‘remain sitting,’ you see. Here again we have to say that it is a mistake to reverse the expressions. And as to ‘set’ and ‘sit,’ surely it is the whole difference between transitive and intransitive?
Soleocista. Lucian. Henry Watson Fowler (Translator), Francis George Fowler (Translator). Medford, MA, USA. 2023-08-01.
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Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.