Re:One of Apple’s Best Ideas Ever — Made Worse
by dfc on Friday August 03, 2012 @10:34PM
(#4337272)
The link you posted does not "speak for itself." Can you provide some context for why you posted a link to the least authoratative reference site on the internet? Even if it was the OED I'm not sure I would understand your point.
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Re:One of Apple’s Best Ideas Ever — Made Worse
by webfuel on Saturday August 04, 2012 @12:10AM
(#4337509)
> David Pogue can speak for himself
Translation: "I do not agree with David Pogue"
The phrase "speak for" is an idiom and is not meant to be taken literally.
Re:One of Apple’s Best Ideas Ever — Made Worse
by dfc on Saturday August 04, 2012 @12:20AM
(#4337538)
So your link was for the special usage note to the last entry on the page that begins with "sometimes"? Furthermore I have never seen this idiom used when it is preceded by "can."
Re:One of Apple’s Best Ideas Ever — Made Worse
by NoPiece on Saturday August 04, 2012 @01:01PM
(#4338958)
From the OED:
"speak for yourself: expressing a desire to dissociate oneself from what another has just said or the assumptions behind it."
Re:One of Apple’s Best Ideas Ever — Made Worse
by dfc on Saturday August 04, 2012 @01:10PM
(#4338979)
That looks like a suprisingly terse entry from the oed. I do not think io have eveer seen such a short entry from the oed. How much did you edit and leave out?
How many people put "can" in front of the idiom?
Re:One of Apple’s Best Ideas Ever — Made Worse
by NoPiece on Monday August 06, 2012 @12:54AM
(#4343790)
In the OED entry for the verb "speak," there is a sub entry for "to speak for." About half of that is devoted to "speak for yourself," which is what I quoted. It is followed by the typical list of examples.
There was a Simpsons reincarnation joke that used the phrase:
Sideshow Mel: You only live once! Apu: Hey, speak for yourself!
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Simpsons/Season_9#Miracle_o...