- Image via Wikipedia
Prepositions are some of the shortest words in the English language, but they are also some of the most powerful. Swap out a few letters and you can change the whole meaning of the sentence.
For example, a popular song that has been going through my head lately, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” can be changed dramatically by swapping “to”, “at” and “of”. Consider these variations:
Take me out to the ballgame
Take me out at the ballgame
Take me out of the ballgame
You could also use “from” or “in” but they would have similar meaning to the three above. Are there are any other prepositions that would totally change the meaning?
Your turn. Can you think of other sentences that can be radically changed by changing a preposition?
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You can take Janet Jackson’s song, “What Have You Done For Me Lately?”
What have you done for me lately?
What have you done to me lately?
This was by far my favorite post so far because I love wordplay and it took me forever to come up with one!
Even after reading other interesting posts, this is still my favorite one because of the play on words. I would like a free copy of Windows for Mac. I am glad that I came across the offer but more importantly, I really enjoyed this blog and it gave me ideas for my own blog. This was a win-win situation all around. Plus I will be thinking of more phrases that change when the preposition is changed!
I am glad you liked the post. The offer you are referring to was for OpenOffice a better alternative to Microsoft Office. If you want to install Windows on your Mac, try Parallels: http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/. It is not free but at least gets you what you are looking for.
“WHENEVER WHEREVER WHATEVER” A LOVE SONG BY MAXWELL IS FULL OF PREPOSITIONS.