[Thad E Ginathom]

Yes and no.

English often depends on that which is understood, and on context. If you are giving out presents to you family, then, as you do so, you could say, "this is Mother's gift; this is father's gift ..."

However, in the example you have given, what is to be understood by Mother's gift is gift of the mother. In the same way, people talk about "God's gift."

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

However, in the example you have given, what is to be understood by Mother's gift is gift of the mother. In the same way, people talk about "God's gift."

Did you intend to say gift from the mother?

[noopster]

"Mother's Gift" may just be a literal translation of "Aaichi Punyaaee" (Marathi). The gift in this case would be from the good Lord on acount of the Mother's goodness and piousness and not, as someone cleverly surmised, from the car driver's Mom to him

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Did you intend to say gift from the mother?

I didn't, no.

but, sure, gift of the mother takes us on yet another chain of possible other meanings!

[amitoj]

You would need to assume that "to me" is implied here. "Mother's gift to me" would convey the correct intent. However, "Mother's Gift" still looks incomplete, if not incorrect.

[straightdrive]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

.......English often depends on that which is understood, and on context.....

Originally Posted by amitoj

You would need to assume that "to me" is implied here.........

I agree with Thad. It would be natural to assume that "to me" is implied here because the word "gift" refers to something that is given to someone.

The words "Amitoj's contribution of a hundred rupees" would usually be understood as the money that Amitoj contributed and not money contributed to Amitoj. Similarly, "Thad's email of 10 May" would be understood as an email sent by Thad on 10 May and not an email to Thad.

[C300]

Originally Posted by noopster

"Mother's Gift" may just be a literal translation of "Aaichi Punyaaee" (Marathi). The gift in this case would be from the good Lord on acount of the Mother's goodness and piousness and not, as someone cleverly surmised, from the car driver's Mom to him

I will agree with noopster here. 'Mother's Gift' on a vehicle may mean 'I am able to own/drive this vehicle because of my Mother's goodness'. The gift in this case is not the vehicle but the 'ability/social status of a person to own it'.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I missed noopster's post!

If it is a literal translation of something that amounts to I am able to drive this vehicle today only because of everything my mother has done for me then that is different to the simple understanding of "Mum gave me this bike." Both are correct. I think that the former is metaphor?

Here is a new one. I don't know whether this is established Indian English, or coming into use recently... one cannot not prefer! On the other hand, one can prefer not.

The tea drinker can say he prefers not to drink coffee. He should not say, "I don't prefer coffee."

[tsk1979]

I am wondering about the use of the phrase
"Unremarkably well"

Remarkably well is used commonly, but lately, in some newspapers(or rags) I have seen the phrase "unremarkably well" crop up quite commonly. From the use in the sentence, it appears, it means "good".
For example, "he scored unremarkably well in the tests"

[Cyrus43]

Well, its one of those things which can have several meanings. I think it means that the person scored according to the usual standards. "Unremarkably" shows no real sign of awe and "well" shows maybe slightly above average.

[lucifer1881]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

...For example, "he scored unremarkably well in the tests"

No offence to either player, but in the case of Jonathan Trott or Alastair Cook it could simply mean that they scored heavily but were so boring that they put you to sleep. Or even in the case of Gary Kirsten's 275. He scored well. But quite unremarkably - no one in their right minds would pay to watch that innings.

In other words, it could mean he got the job done. But there was nothing pretty about his methods.

[Thad E Ginathom]

It's a nonsense.

Well, not a complete nonsense, because we know what is meant, but it is clumsy and badly formed.

It is a little like the unnecessary negatives which are not uncommon in standard English. That doesn't look or sound bad, but any style reference would advise just to say "common"

Worldwide, journalists have a language all of their own, and sports commentators take it to extreme.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Here is a new one. I don't know whether this is established Indian English, or coming into use recently... one cannot not prefer! On the other hand, one can prefer not.

The tea drinker can say he prefers not to drink coffee. He should not say, "I don't prefer coffee."

Thad, again a literal translation of "Mein coffee peena pasand nahi karta" which is the (correct) opposite of "Mein cofee peena pasand karta hu" (I like to drink coffee). "Prefer" has a comparative implication that is missing in Hindi- for example, if you want to say you prefer tea TO coffee, you just say, "Mein chai zyaada pasand karta hu" (like it more, that is "prefer" it).

@tsk1979- I have never heard anyone use "unremarkably well'. I would say the usage is plain wrong.

Edit: "I'd prefer not to..." is one those typical Brit usages that drives us desis up the wall . Like "quite a few" means many or "not bad" means very good indeed. Why can't you guys say what you mean LOL.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

It's a nonsense.

Well, not a complete nonsense, because we know what is meant, but it is clumsy and badly formed.

It is a little like the unnecessary negatives which are not uncommon in standard English. That doesn't look or sound bad, but any style reference would advise just to say "common"

Worldwide, journalists have a language all of their own, and sports commentators take it to extreme.

Originally Posted by noopster

Thad, again a literal translation of "Mein coffee peena pasand nahi karta" which is the (correct) opposite of "Mein cofee peena pasand karta hu" (I like to drink coffee). "Prefer" has a comparative implication that is missing in Hindi- for example, if you want to say you prefer tea TO coffee, you just say, "Mein chai zyaada pasand karta hu" (like it more, that is "prefer" it).

@tsk1979- I have never heard anyone use "unremarkably well'. I would say the usage is plain wrong.

Edit: "I'd prefer not to..." is one those typical Brit usages that drives us desis up the wall . Like "quite a few" means many or "not bad" means very good indeed. Why can't you guys say what you mean LOL.

I know its bad english
But its used online in a fair bit of articles(use google to search)
What shocked me was its use in an article in print edition of TOI

Hence the question

[noopster]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

What shocked me was its use in an article in print edition of TOI

There was a time when the Times was renowned and respected for its correct and proper usage of the English language. Not anymore. Not in fact for a long time now.

These days, all they do is gimmicky stuff like use i instead of I for the first-person singular . But as far as grammar goes, you'll be surprised at what obvious mistakes find their way into print.

My friend tweeted after the 9th Indian-origin student won America's Spelling Bee in 14 years "How come Indians learn to spell once they reach the US?"

Same goes for grammar.