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Re: Fwd: TT-10,13, 14,15 (fwd) thank heavens
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Thank you all who posted on "thank heavens." I did not think the idiom would
be so tricky, but it is very interesting.
I wonder which could be possible:
1) VN found "Thank Heavens!" natural as Don, even if used by Julia, a New
Yorker, and did not accept the editor's suggestion that it be changed to
"Thank Heaven!"
2) VN found it wrong as Eric, or unnatural for Julia, and intentionally made
it "Heavens" to draw the reader's attention to it so that the reader would
ask "Who is narrating?"
If 2) is the case, I think it is probably Armande rather than Mr. R. who
speaks. As Carolyn and an anonymous contributor taught, she might say
"heavens" thinking about the word in plural like "cieux." It is too
difficult for me, but an astute reader could be aware of it as it comes
after "l'Erale Tribune." As Mary wrote, Mr. R. might have misheard or
misquoted it, though.
I could not find the idiom in VN's other novels. Does he use it anywhere?
Akiko
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Friday, September 17, 2004 4:49 AM
Subject: Re: Fwd: TT-10,13, 14,15 (fwd) thank heavens
> Dear Akiko:
>
> This may be regional or generational, but Thank heavens definitely
sounds
> wrong to me. I would have said it is a confusion of various idioms --
i.e.
> heavens to Betsy! But a Google search turns up many hits, including the
> Dixie Chicks' song Thank heavens for Dale Evans. I still think, though --
> and this is in contrast to Don -- that in the context "My former
> stepfather, thank Heavens" -- the plural is "off", and that "Thank
heavens"
> is more likely in a longer sentence. But I'm not as sure as I was...
> Eric
>
>
> >Dear Eric,
> >
> >Thanks very much for resending your comments.
> >
> >I am still puzzled by "thank heavens." I understand the idiom is
originally
> >"thank heaven," but is it wrong as "to make a story short" is? Some
English
> >dictionaries give "thank heaven(s)." Cobuild English Dictionary for
Advanced
> >Learners and Longman Advanced American Dictionary (probably more) contain
> >"thank God, heavens, goodness," omitting "thank heaven." Does "thank
> >heavens" sound strange to most native speakers of English?
> >
> >Best,
> >Akiko
> >
> >
> >> on chapter 13
> >> 45 - "My former stepfather, thank Heavens" Julia is parodying R., "who
> >> had an exasperating way not only of trotting out hackneyed formulas in
his
> >> would-be colloquial thickly accented English, but also of getting them
> >> wrong)"
> >
> >> Eric
> >
> >----- End forwarded message -----
> >
> >EDCOMMENT. To my ear, "Thank heavenS" seems more natural. "Thank Heaven"
> >seems
> >to call for some specific object, i.e., "Thank Heaven for little girls"
as
> >Maurice Chevalier (& HH?) used to sing.
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
----- End forwarded message -----
be so tricky, but it is very interesting.
I wonder which could be possible:
1) VN found "Thank Heavens!" natural as Don, even if used by Julia, a New
Yorker, and did not accept the editor's suggestion that it be changed to
"Thank Heaven!"
2) VN found it wrong as Eric, or unnatural for Julia, and intentionally made
it "Heavens" to draw the reader's attention to it so that the reader would
ask "Who is narrating?"
If 2) is the case, I think it is probably Armande rather than Mr. R. who
speaks. As Carolyn and an anonymous contributor taught, she might say
"heavens" thinking about the word in plural like "cieux." It is too
difficult for me, but an astute reader could be aware of it as it comes
after "l'Erale Tribune." As Mary wrote, Mr. R. might have misheard or
misquoted it, though.
I could not find the idiom in VN's other novels. Does he use it anywhere?
Akiko
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Friday, September 17, 2004 4:49 AM
Subject: Re: Fwd: TT-10,13, 14,15 (fwd) thank heavens
> Dear Akiko:
>
> This may be regional or generational, but Thank heavens definitely
sounds
> wrong to me. I would have said it is a confusion of various idioms --
i.e.
> heavens to Betsy! But a Google search turns up many hits, including the
> Dixie Chicks' song Thank heavens for Dale Evans. I still think, though --
> and this is in contrast to Don -- that in the context "My former
> stepfather, thank Heavens" -- the plural is "off", and that "Thank
heavens"
> is more likely in a longer sentence. But I'm not as sure as I was...
> Eric
>
>
> >Dear Eric,
> >
> >Thanks very much for resending your comments.
> >
> >I am still puzzled by "thank heavens." I understand the idiom is
originally
> >"thank heaven," but is it wrong as "to make a story short" is? Some
English
> >dictionaries give "thank heaven(s)." Cobuild English Dictionary for
Advanced
> >Learners and Longman Advanced American Dictionary (probably more) contain
> >"thank God, heavens, goodness," omitting "thank heaven." Does "thank
> >heavens" sound strange to most native speakers of English?
> >
> >Best,
> >Akiko
> >
> >
> >> on chapter 13
> >> 45 - "My former stepfather, thank Heavens" Julia is parodying R., "who
> >> had an exasperating way not only of trotting out hackneyed formulas in
his
> >> would-be colloquial thickly accented English, but also of getting them
> >> wrong)"
> >
> >> Eric
> >
> >----- End forwarded message -----
> >
> >EDCOMMENT. To my ear, "Thank heavenS" seems more natural. "Thank Heaven"
> >seems
> >to call for some specific object, i.e., "Thank Heaven for little girls"
as
> >Maurice Chevalier (& HH?) used to sing.
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
----- End forwarded message -----