7.9. All actions and exceptional actions

| Chapter 7: Basic Actions |

| 7.9. All actions and exceptional actions

The special description "doing something" (or "doing anything") matches any action, and "doing something to ..." also allows the noun to be specified.

For instance, the following puts its object out of bounds:

> Instead of doing something to the cucumber sandwich, say "Lady Bracknell stares disapprovingly down her pince-nez at you, in a way which no amount of hunger or curiosity could overcome."

We sometimes need to be a little careful here: "waiting" qualifies as "doing something", but not as "doing something to something", because there is no object. "Putting the handbag on the cucumber sandwich" would also not qualify as "doing something to the cucumber sandwich" - only to the handbag.

More often, we would like to restrict the range of allowable actions to a select few. For instance:

> Instead of doing something other than looking, examining or waiting: say "You must learn patience."

(Or we can write "except" instead of "other than".) Or we might have an object, too:

> Instead of doing something other than examining, taking or dropping with the dagger: say "Don't fool around with that dagger. It's exceedingly sharp."

Note the "with", which was optional, but makes it clearer that the rule applies only to actions on the dagger.

96
| Example Zodiac Several variations on "doing something other than...", demonstrating different degrees of restriction. |
RB

Previous | Contents | Next