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Because of the elections I hear the phrase winner take all system a lot and was wondering why it's not called winner takes all and whether this phrase and the similar dog eat dog world is considered slang or is grammatically correct.
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Lia Fail (X) Spain Local time: 12:40 Spanish to English + ...
adjectives
Apr 7, 2008
Olaf wrote:
Because of the elections I hear the phrase winner take all system a lot and was wondering why it's not called winner takes all and whether this phrase and the similar dog eat dog world is considered slang or is grammatically correct.
These are adjectives qualifying nouns and should - strictly speaking - be hyphenated.
It's a dog-eat-dog world / a winner-take-all system
Why they are not in the 3rd person is probably related to the infinitive (without to) form being preferable for making an adjective.
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The Misha Local time: 07:40 Russian to English + ...
Right on, Lia!
Apr 7, 2008
That's exactly what I was going to suggest. Cheers!
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Steven Capsuto United States Local time: 07:40 Member (2004) Spanish to English + ...
Why there's no S at the end
Apr 7, 2008
I always understood these verbs as being in the imperative. Commands don't generally have an S at the end.
I, too, prefer to see these terms hyphenated, though the hyphenation of compound adjectives seems to be on the decline.
[Edited at 2008-04-07 18:27]
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Jim Tucker (X) United States Hungarian to English + ...
as Steven says...
Apr 8, 2008
though more precisely it's a subjunctive, short for:
"may/let (the) winner take all"
You find a similar construction (for example) in:
"Every man for himself, and (the) Devil take the hindmost"
[Edited at 2008-04-08 02:01]
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Lia Fail (X) Spain Local time: 12:40 Spanish to English + ...
agree
Apr 8, 2008
Jim Tucker wrote:
though more precisely it's a subjunctive, short for:
"may/let (the) winner take all"
You find a similar construction (for example) in:
"Every man for himself, and (the) Devil take the hindmost"
[Edited at 2008-04-08 02:01]
Preisely Jim, the original phrase would have been the subjunctive, formed with expressions like "may" or "let" combined with the infinitive without "to", then converted to an adjective form with hyphens.
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David Brown Spain Local time: 12:40 Spanish to English
winner takes all
Apr 8, 2008
My understanding that the phrase is winner-takes -all and dog-eat-dog
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Peter Winch Japan Local time: 20:40 Japanese to English + ...
as David says
Apr 9, 2008
I learnt the phrase as "winner-takes-all", but it is arguable whether it is an imperative, more often it seems to be a statement of fact.
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