Wednesday 25 November 2015

grammar - Is the sentence "I hail my praise in your daily sandbox activities" grammatcally correct?

Oxford Dictionaries (not OED) gives several meanings of the verb hail



It can mean 'to call out to (someone) to attract attention' e.g. I hailed her in English or I hailed a taxi.



It can also mean to praise (someone or something).



So the expression I hail my praise is interesting. If you are using hail in the first sense it means I call out my praise for your sandbox activities, in order to attract your attention. Somehow I don't think that is what was meant.



If you are using 'hail' in the second sense, meaning praise, you would normally say I hail your sandbox activities. It would be extravagant as it would be in the same sense as saying I hail the rescue workers who saved the man's life. Praise would be implied, so you would not need to use the word.



But, despite the superfluity of expression which it carries, I hail my praise for sounds elegant. I would be interested to know where you saw it!

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