Lexa (lexabear) wrote in linguaphiles,
Lexa
lexabear
linguaphiles

be

I was having a discussion with a friend about Indiana Jones and he used the phrase "he goes out and bes a hero," then quickly thought about what he said and tried to correct himself. However, neither of us could think of a better way to say it. I've used "bes" is certain contexts too.

This is how I think of it - you can say "I told you not to go out and be a hero. And what do you do? You go out and be a hero." But you can't say "I told him not to.... he goes out and *bes a hero." But it feels like it works, because "goes out and is a hero" has a different connotation (and I also wouldn't say "you go out and are a hero" in the analagous example above), as well as rephrasing it with other verbs such as "goes out and acts the hero." It feels like there's just this gap in English where that verb form should be, but I don't even know what to call it.

I guess I don't have any specific question to wrap this up with. Just... discussion?

ETA: It's not that I don't understand what he meant -- it's completely intelligible, just non-"correct," and I've done the same thing myself in different contexts (I didn't provide other examples because I couldn't think of any off the top of my head; if anyone else can think of any, please do).
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  • Interpretation of the Legend

    (inscriptions on the Kushan Kingdom coins / надписи на монетах Кушанского царства)

  • Spanish query

    I would be most grateful if anyone could help me out with a Spanish idiom, an expression appearing in a discussion of torture from the late 18th…

  • A very strange Etruscan inscription

    Chiusi is a small town in Italy (province of Siena, Tuscany). And once it was one of the most powerful centers of the Etruscan League of 12 cities.…