]First part speaks of a nod; second part of a stare. How are they related? Two different statements are being made. With what choice is "or" presenting us?
Sorry for the confusion. I suspect I didn’t express myself well in the first place. The “that in asterisk” refers to what’s being interpreted in the second part of 1). The two clauses are linked together with an “or,” shading over into another possible interpretation. You may recall that in my original question I indicated something to the effect that the meaning of “that in asterisk” is implicit in the meaning of the second part of 2) and, as a result, its omission should cause no concern for ambiguity. Therefore I felt that the “that in asterisk” is optional, not compulsory. Not sure of myself, I solicited views to confirm (or to dispute, if you wish) my reasoning.
Your comments on this specific issue are welcome.
Hi Raymond.
I do understand about the asterisk and the question of whether "that" is needed. Sorry if it wasn't clear.
What I do not get is
what is being said in the sentence as a whole (regardless whether "that" is included or not). Therefore I don't know what the function of "that" is, just as I don't know what the function of "or" is here (though I think I do know what "is" is
).
The dilemma starts with "or", which usually denotes a choice between two things. As far as I see the two things are:
First part: we are interpreting (a nod)
Second part: they are staring
We and
they are different voices (two different people are doing the action) plus, the actions themselves are different (first nodding, then staring), so "or" really can't connect them.
If we had:
"Either we are speaking a sentence, or we aren't"
-two possible conditions are presented by "or":
1) We are speaking a sentence
2) We are not speaking a sentence.
Likewise, "Was it a blue car, or a green one"
-gives two choices:
1) Was it a blue car?
2) Was it a green car?
But what I see here is more like:
"Are we speaking a sentence, or was it a blue car?"
Not to get technical for its own sake, but this prevents its meaning from coming across. Is it a statement about what we do or is it about what they do? Is it about nodding or or is it about staring? What choice does "or" refer to? I can't tell.
Thus: We often interpret a nod as either (a) affirmative, or else (b) - - - ? (we don't know, since apparently they have now moved on to a stare and are considering or failing to consider the effect therof (an action that takes place within him/her/theyself), which has no effect on how
we might have interpreted their previous nod)...
After staring (but not nodding) at this puzzle for the better part of a week I just can't navigate it, so unfortunately the question of whether or not "that" is optional cannot be answered
without knowing what is being said.