Re: "Difficult" clauses

Herman Miller wrote:
> caeruleancentaur wrote:
> > IMO, many sentences like these are easier to translate
> > if they are rewritten in more "formal" English.  N.B. I did
> > NOT say "correct" or "proper."  E.g., "what...for" often
> > only means "why."
> >
> > "We spent all night talking about I can't remember what."
> > "We spent all night talking about that which (what) I can't
> > remember."
>
> I don't think that's a very close equivalent; "that which I can't
> remember" doesn't sound specific enough. I'm not entirely
> sure why it doesn't sound right, but turn it around: "That
> which I can't remember is what we spent all night talking
> about". Does that sound right? It might be better to para-
> phrase it as "We spent all night talking, but I can't remember
> what it was that we were talking about." Or how about "We
> spent all night talking about something I don't remember
> what it was."
Or, "I can't remember what we spent all night talking about."

But based on the structure of the original sentence here, I
would take it to mean, "We spent all night talking about so
many different things that I can't even remember them."

If the literal meaning were meant, I think an English speaker
would say, "We spent all night talking, but I don't remember
about what" or some such.

--Ph. D.

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