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Does this text sound authentic to you?
Hello, I am studying English and would like to know if this text sounds authentic to native English speakers (the obvious statement in the last sentence is supposed to sound a bit stupid, but this is a script from a real-life conversation). Do you think this was said by a native? If not, what sounds wrong to you? How would you word it? Thank you:))
"Some people think that killing animals for fun is okay. What a disgusting, preposterous idea! I bet they literally have no brains! It’s so dumb that it makes me barf! I don’t mean to be repetitive, but it’s disgusting, really! It’s tragic, because when you kill someone, they end up dead, it’s so obvious!"
3 Answers
- JankoLv 69 years agoFavorite Answer
Statements on this rather low rhetorical level would always omit the relative pronoun: "It's so dumb it makes me barf."
A reasonably educated young person over, say, the age of 15 would also be able to construct a better argument, so unless you're writing this for a character younger than this, I'd tone it down a bit and add little more substance. For some reason, perhaps the apologetic "I don't mean to be repetitive," I'd guess this was spoken by a young woman.
"Barf" is also a rather old slang word. A younger person would use a more recent expression. If the person is male, then this expression might be quite colorful.
"When you kill someone, they..." Although strictly incorrect, the use of the plural "they" with a singular antecedent is so common today in both British and American English, it would look very odd if you used any other expression.
So, except for the relative pronoun, it's an authentic text.
- 9 years ago
Waaaaaaaay too over the top. Don't use the word "preposterous" (hardly anyone uses that), cut the slang ("barf"), and the "I bet they literally have no brains" seems a bit too much/unprofessional :) What's it for?
- 9 years ago
It is a little much ... I would just state " I believe the hunting of animals should only be done to feed and clothe people. I think killing animals for sport is disgusting."