The following is an illustrative sentence explaining the word 'reck' in the electronic dictionary 'Kingsoft PowerWord'.But I have been awfully puzzling by it.I conjecture that this idea should be expressed with the word of 'reck' as 'What does he reck if the sky should fall?' or ' What recks him if the sky should fall?'.
Is it idiomatic saying or loose expression in oral English? Or,maybe it is right incorrectness?
---------What recks he if the sky should fall ? ------------[][/color][/u][/b]
Please help me with this odd sentence!
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Please help me with this odd sentence!
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reck
Dear friend,
RECK is often used in poem or literature, so the utilization is very complex and sophisticated. And it is very often used in negative sentences, such as :
I reck not though I end my life to-day. --Shak.
Of me she recks not, nor my vain desire. --M. Arnold.
In this case, i think the sentence is RIGHT :
What recks he if the sky should fall?
And it means "What will/could he reck if the sky should fall?"
I can't explain the grammar here but i've found a similar example:
Then reck I not, when I have lost my life. --Chaucer.
(This sentence together with the 2 sentences above is taken from Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. They are also the examples for the word RECK.)
Cheers
RECK is often used in poem or literature, so the utilization is very complex and sophisticated. And it is very often used in negative sentences, such as :
I reck not though I end my life to-day. --Shak.
Of me she recks not, nor my vain desire. --M. Arnold.
In this case, i think the sentence is RIGHT :
What recks he if the sky should fall?
And it means "What will/could he reck if the sky should fall?"
I can't explain the grammar here but i've found a similar example:
Then reck I not, when I have lost my life. --Chaucer.
(This sentence together with the 2 sentences above is taken from Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. They are also the examples for the word RECK.)
Cheers
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