Is the phrase “Those one track minds” grammatically correct? [on hold]
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There is an interesting grammatical construction in the song Shout by Tears For Fears.
They really really ought to know
Those one track minds
That took you for a working boy
Kiss them goodbye
I'm interested in the phrase "Those one track minds" which for me sounds incorrect. It feels like there should be "That" instead of "Those". First, I though that they broke the rules because of the rhyme, but "That one tracks minds" would have fitted ok without braking the rhyme.
Is there an explanation of such usage? Is it grammatically correct?
grammar grammatical-structure songs
put on hold as off-topic by Janus Bahs Jacquet, Dan Bron, David, Mark Beadles, Kris 16 hours ago
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "Proofreading questions are off-topic unless a specific source of concern in the text is clearly identified." – Dan Bron, David
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There is an interesting grammatical construction in the song Shout by Tears For Fears.
They really really ought to know
Those one track minds
That took you for a working boy
Kiss them goodbye
I'm interested in the phrase "Those one track minds" which for me sounds incorrect. It feels like there should be "That" instead of "Those". First, I though that they broke the rules because of the rhyme, but "That one tracks minds" would have fitted ok without braking the rhyme.
Is there an explanation of such usage? Is it grammatically correct?
grammar grammatical-structure songs
put on hold as off-topic by Janus Bahs Jacquet, Dan Bron, David, Mark Beadles, Kris 16 hours ago
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "Proofreading questions are off-topic unless a specific source of concern in the text is clearly identified." – Dan Bron, David
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
1
Those is correct. It refers to those people with one-track minds”. Also, you are parsing it as connected to the first line. It is actually a new thought which connects to the third line.
– Jim
yesterday
That minds is not correct; it must be that mind or those minds. The demonstrative determinatives agree with the nouns they qualify in number.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
yesterday
@JanusBahsJacquet - How do you know they're not all of one mind?
– Hot Licks
yesterday
1
Thank you. Now I get it. I didn't know that "one-track mind" is an idiom.
– Oleksandr Shpota
yesterday
1
@HotLicks I don’t; wouldn’t make a difference if they were, though.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
yesterday
|
show 7 more comments
up vote
0
down vote
favorite
up vote
0
down vote
favorite
There is an interesting grammatical construction in the song Shout by Tears For Fears.
They really really ought to know
Those one track minds
That took you for a working boy
Kiss them goodbye
I'm interested in the phrase "Those one track minds" which for me sounds incorrect. It feels like there should be "That" instead of "Those". First, I though that they broke the rules because of the rhyme, but "That one tracks minds" would have fitted ok without braking the rhyme.
Is there an explanation of such usage? Is it grammatically correct?
grammar grammatical-structure songs
There is an interesting grammatical construction in the song Shout by Tears For Fears.
They really really ought to know
Those one track minds
That took you for a working boy
Kiss them goodbye
I'm interested in the phrase "Those one track minds" which for me sounds incorrect. It feels like there should be "That" instead of "Those". First, I though that they broke the rules because of the rhyme, but "That one tracks minds" would have fitted ok without braking the rhyme.
Is there an explanation of such usage? Is it grammatically correct?
grammar grammatical-structure songs
grammar grammatical-structure songs
asked yesterday
Oleksandr Shpota
1084
1084
put on hold as off-topic by Janus Bahs Jacquet, Dan Bron, David, Mark Beadles, Kris 16 hours ago
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "Proofreading questions are off-topic unless a specific source of concern in the text is clearly identified." – Dan Bron, David
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
put on hold as off-topic by Janus Bahs Jacquet, Dan Bron, David, Mark Beadles, Kris 16 hours ago
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "Proofreading questions are off-topic unless a specific source of concern in the text is clearly identified." – Dan Bron, David
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
1
Those is correct. It refers to those people with one-track minds”. Also, you are parsing it as connected to the first line. It is actually a new thought which connects to the third line.
– Jim
yesterday
That minds is not correct; it must be that mind or those minds. The demonstrative determinatives agree with the nouns they qualify in number.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
yesterday
@JanusBahsJacquet - How do you know they're not all of one mind?
– Hot Licks
yesterday
1
Thank you. Now I get it. I didn't know that "one-track mind" is an idiom.
– Oleksandr Shpota
yesterday
1
@HotLicks I don’t; wouldn’t make a difference if they were, though.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
yesterday
|
show 7 more comments
1
Those is correct. It refers to those people with one-track minds”. Also, you are parsing it as connected to the first line. It is actually a new thought which connects to the third line.
– Jim
yesterday
That minds is not correct; it must be that mind or those minds. The demonstrative determinatives agree with the nouns they qualify in number.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
yesterday
@JanusBahsJacquet - How do you know they're not all of one mind?
– Hot Licks
yesterday
1
Thank you. Now I get it. I didn't know that "one-track mind" is an idiom.
– Oleksandr Shpota
yesterday
1
@HotLicks I don’t; wouldn’t make a difference if they were, though.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
yesterday
1
1
Those is correct. It refers to those people with one-track minds”. Also, you are parsing it as connected to the first line. It is actually a new thought which connects to the third line.
– Jim
yesterday
Those is correct. It refers to those people with one-track minds”. Also, you are parsing it as connected to the first line. It is actually a new thought which connects to the third line.
– Jim
yesterday
That minds is not correct; it must be that mind or those minds. The demonstrative determinatives agree with the nouns they qualify in number.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
yesterday
That minds is not correct; it must be that mind or those minds. The demonstrative determinatives agree with the nouns they qualify in number.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
yesterday
@JanusBahsJacquet - How do you know they're not all of one mind?
– Hot Licks
yesterday
@JanusBahsJacquet - How do you know they're not all of one mind?
– Hot Licks
yesterday
1
1
Thank you. Now I get it. I didn't know that "one-track mind" is an idiom.
– Oleksandr Shpota
yesterday
Thank you. Now I get it. I didn't know that "one-track mind" is an idiom.
– Oleksandr Shpota
yesterday
1
1
@HotLicks I don’t; wouldn’t make a difference if they were, though.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
yesterday
@HotLicks I don’t; wouldn’t make a difference if they were, though.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
yesterday
|
show 7 more comments
2 Answers
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1
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accepted
Note here that 'minds' is not a verb. It is not like saying he minds the shop while they're eating - it is a noun and the object of to know.
one track should really be hyphenated because it's an idiomatic compound adjective. one-track originates from description of trains (see this page) and means that someone/something is repetitive or obsessed with something (i.e. their thoughts always return along the same track to the same ideas).
Because one track is only an adjective, applying to minds, you can understand the pronoun those by removing this adjective. This way, you get those minds, which makes sense - I think the confusion here is just misapplication of the pronoun as applying to 'one' or 'one track'.
New contributor
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Song lyrics like poetry use enjambment In poetry, "enjambment (/ ɛ n ˈ dʒ æ m b m ən t / or / ɛ n ˈ dʒ æ m m ən t /; from the French enjambement) is incomplete syntax at the end of a line; the meaning runs over from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation," Wikipedia. The meaning of the last three lines is "Kiss goodbye those one-track minds that took you for a working boy." But rock music like poetry gains power by slicing things up and moving them around, to both fit the music and provoke the listener. Grammar and syntax don't much obtrude, and likely for the best. Had Jagger and Richards ran their song by the English Stack Exchange, we would now have (I Can't Get Any) Satisfaction. Would you buy the album?
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
1
down vote
accepted
Note here that 'minds' is not a verb. It is not like saying he minds the shop while they're eating - it is a noun and the object of to know.
one track should really be hyphenated because it's an idiomatic compound adjective. one-track originates from description of trains (see this page) and means that someone/something is repetitive or obsessed with something (i.e. their thoughts always return along the same track to the same ideas).
Because one track is only an adjective, applying to minds, you can understand the pronoun those by removing this adjective. This way, you get those minds, which makes sense - I think the confusion here is just misapplication of the pronoun as applying to 'one' or 'one track'.
New contributor
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
accepted
Note here that 'minds' is not a verb. It is not like saying he minds the shop while they're eating - it is a noun and the object of to know.
one track should really be hyphenated because it's an idiomatic compound adjective. one-track originates from description of trains (see this page) and means that someone/something is repetitive or obsessed with something (i.e. their thoughts always return along the same track to the same ideas).
Because one track is only an adjective, applying to minds, you can understand the pronoun those by removing this adjective. This way, you get those minds, which makes sense - I think the confusion here is just misapplication of the pronoun as applying to 'one' or 'one track'.
New contributor
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
accepted
up vote
1
down vote
accepted
Note here that 'minds' is not a verb. It is not like saying he minds the shop while they're eating - it is a noun and the object of to know.
one track should really be hyphenated because it's an idiomatic compound adjective. one-track originates from description of trains (see this page) and means that someone/something is repetitive or obsessed with something (i.e. their thoughts always return along the same track to the same ideas).
Because one track is only an adjective, applying to minds, you can understand the pronoun those by removing this adjective. This way, you get those minds, which makes sense - I think the confusion here is just misapplication of the pronoun as applying to 'one' or 'one track'.
New contributor
Note here that 'minds' is not a verb. It is not like saying he minds the shop while they're eating - it is a noun and the object of to know.
one track should really be hyphenated because it's an idiomatic compound adjective. one-track originates from description of trains (see this page) and means that someone/something is repetitive or obsessed with something (i.e. their thoughts always return along the same track to the same ideas).
Because one track is only an adjective, applying to minds, you can understand the pronoun those by removing this adjective. This way, you get those minds, which makes sense - I think the confusion here is just misapplication of the pronoun as applying to 'one' or 'one track'.
New contributor
New contributor
answered 18 hours ago
Joseph Paduch
894
894
New contributor
New contributor
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Song lyrics like poetry use enjambment In poetry, "enjambment (/ ɛ n ˈ dʒ æ m b m ən t / or / ɛ n ˈ dʒ æ m m ən t /; from the French enjambement) is incomplete syntax at the end of a line; the meaning runs over from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation," Wikipedia. The meaning of the last three lines is "Kiss goodbye those one-track minds that took you for a working boy." But rock music like poetry gains power by slicing things up and moving them around, to both fit the music and provoke the listener. Grammar and syntax don't much obtrude, and likely for the best. Had Jagger and Richards ran their song by the English Stack Exchange, we would now have (I Can't Get Any) Satisfaction. Would you buy the album?
add a comment |
up vote
-1
down vote
Song lyrics like poetry use enjambment In poetry, "enjambment (/ ɛ n ˈ dʒ æ m b m ən t / or / ɛ n ˈ dʒ æ m m ən t /; from the French enjambement) is incomplete syntax at the end of a line; the meaning runs over from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation," Wikipedia. The meaning of the last three lines is "Kiss goodbye those one-track minds that took you for a working boy." But rock music like poetry gains power by slicing things up and moving them around, to both fit the music and provoke the listener. Grammar and syntax don't much obtrude, and likely for the best. Had Jagger and Richards ran their song by the English Stack Exchange, we would now have (I Can't Get Any) Satisfaction. Would you buy the album?
add a comment |
up vote
-1
down vote
up vote
-1
down vote
Song lyrics like poetry use enjambment In poetry, "enjambment (/ ɛ n ˈ dʒ æ m b m ən t / or / ɛ n ˈ dʒ æ m m ən t /; from the French enjambement) is incomplete syntax at the end of a line; the meaning runs over from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation," Wikipedia. The meaning of the last three lines is "Kiss goodbye those one-track minds that took you for a working boy." But rock music like poetry gains power by slicing things up and moving them around, to both fit the music and provoke the listener. Grammar and syntax don't much obtrude, and likely for the best. Had Jagger and Richards ran their song by the English Stack Exchange, we would now have (I Can't Get Any) Satisfaction. Would you buy the album?
Song lyrics like poetry use enjambment In poetry, "enjambment (/ ɛ n ˈ dʒ æ m b m ən t / or / ɛ n ˈ dʒ æ m m ən t /; from the French enjambement) is incomplete syntax at the end of a line; the meaning runs over from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation," Wikipedia. The meaning of the last three lines is "Kiss goodbye those one-track minds that took you for a working boy." But rock music like poetry gains power by slicing things up and moving them around, to both fit the music and provoke the listener. Grammar and syntax don't much obtrude, and likely for the best. Had Jagger and Richards ran their song by the English Stack Exchange, we would now have (I Can't Get Any) Satisfaction. Would you buy the album?
edited 22 hours ago
answered yesterday
Zan700
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1
Those is correct. It refers to those people with one-track minds”. Also, you are parsing it as connected to the first line. It is actually a new thought which connects to the third line.
– Jim
yesterday
That minds is not correct; it must be that mind or those minds. The demonstrative determinatives agree with the nouns they qualify in number.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
yesterday
@JanusBahsJacquet - How do you know they're not all of one mind?
– Hot Licks
yesterday
1
Thank you. Now I get it. I didn't know that "one-track mind" is an idiom.
– Oleksandr Shpota
yesterday
1
@HotLicks I don’t; wouldn’t make a difference if they were, though.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
yesterday