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Interpretation of an English sentence (song lyrics)

Cifi

Interpretation of an English sentence (song lyrics)

Post by Cifi »

It is "then we raised a glass to JFK and a dozen more beside" (links below)

Do you native speakers understand "1 glass/drink to him plus to 12 other people" or "1 glass to him plus 12 more glasses/drinks", or is it actually ambiguous?

The original version of that song is from the Pogues (I don't link to it because it's so hard to look at). Anyway my favourite interpretation is this one:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... YVagxzmxOK

Last edited by Cifi on Mon Aug 29, 2022 6:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

Native: :de: Intermediate: :uk: Lower intermediate: :es: Beginner: :fr: Absolute beginner: 🇬🇷
(If there are errors in what I'm writing in either language, please do correct me - I'll never take it as offense or something like that.)

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Davey944676
Great Britain

Re: Interpretation of an English sentence (song lyrics)

Post by Davey944676 »

"then we raised a glass to JFK and a dozen more beside(s?)"

It is ambiguous, just going by a quick listen. It could even mean that one group were celebrating JFK, and a dozen more people (somehow unexpectedly?) joined in with the celebration.

My own first impression was that it meant they raised a glass to a dozen other, unnamed people - but now you mention it it could just as easily mean that they then had another dozen drinks to celebrate JFK. :)

(I'm British)

Last edited by Davey944676 on Mon Aug 29, 2022 5:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

🇬🇧 British Native....Learning Polish 🇵🇱, Russian 🇷🇺, Romanian 🇷🇴, Ukrainian 🇺🇦, French 🇫🇷, Welsh :wales:

John238922
Australia

Re: Interpretation of an English sentence (song lyrics)

Post by John238922 »

' we raised a glass to JFK and a dozen more beside'

and the next line of the song says he got back to his room and couldn't remember ... .

'raise a glass' means to drink a toast.

I think 'a dozen more beside' means 'and [ I drank] a dozen more [glasses of drink] besides', so became drunk, then couldn't remember.

I don't think anyone would say there were a dozen more people besides/like John F Kennedy.

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