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"It was a toy Court that obtained there".
A sentence from a book I'm reading.
I've never before seen the intransitive form of the verb "obtain" used.
Is it rare? Or archaic?
Is this an exception, a word that means at the same time to "aquire" and to "hold"? (here in the meaning of hold/held))
A verb that seems to have an active as well as a static meaning? Or should it in the meaning of to hold also be seen as active?
Are there more like this one?
Last edited by BranShea; 12/27/07 04:37 PM.
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Pooh-Bah
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I'd never heard the word used that way. "Obtain" is an obscure word meaning to be generally recognized or established (M-W) but you wouldn't use "was" and maybe not "that"
dalehileman
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Right Dale, thanks. I should edit the 'was' away. (that's what you get when you read at late hours and make a note on the edge of dreams,  ) I looked again and there is no 'was' in that phrase at all. But the the question still obtains.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Is it rare? Or archaic?
It's common in UK English, in certain types of writing. I've mainly run across it in the works of Anglo-American philosophers (e.g., Austin, Ryle, Anscombe, Searle). I wouldn't call it rare, just specialized.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Thanks. Nice form. American writer.
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Carpal Tunnel
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So the exact phrase is "It a toy Court that obtained there"? Wait a minute--that doesn't make any sense. "It was a toy that Court obtained there" makes sense, if Court is a person. However, if toy is an adjective describing Court (yeah, I know, I've never heard of a toy court either, but who knows what any particular author will come up with?), then I am forced to wonder what it obtained.
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Carpal Tunnel
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" It was a toy Court that obtained there."
I was confused like you when I read that sentence so I looked up the word 'obtain '.
1) obtain. The American Heritage:
...1. To be established, accepted, or customary: standards, proprieties that no longer obtain (Meg Greenfield). 2. Archaic To succeed. Middle English obteinen, from...
Only knew it as:
1. Come into possession of; "How did you obtain the visa?".
" It was a toy Court that was established there " is how I now understand it.(and that suits the context)
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Pooh-Bah
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Possible new meaning: Any litigation arising from consumer product containing poisonous substance
dalehileman
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Possible new meaning: Any litigation arising from consumer product containing poisonous substance Now that's funny. 
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Pooh-Bah
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Anna thank you. As an old, rickety breakwind on the threshold of disintregration and one of the country's most resoundingly unpublished writers, I do once in a while appreciate a little encouragement
dalehileman
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