Jun 18, 2021 00:43
2 yrs ago
24 viewers *
English term
the last time you had... will be the first time
English
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
“And the last time you had a health inspector really go through
your kitchen,” Chris says, “will be the first time.”
“Then don’t eat my fucking food, all right?”
An Italian gang is trying to convince a bar owner to succumb to them.
I don't understand the grammar (and logic) of this sentence. Shouldn't "last time" and "first time" be in reverse order? Is the order reversed on purpose? Why?
your kitchen,” Chris says, “will be the first time.”
“Then don’t eat my fucking food, all right?”
An Italian gang is trying to convince a bar owner to succumb to them.
I don't understand the grammar (and logic) of this sentence. Shouldn't "last time" and "first time" be in reverse order? Is the order reversed on purpose? Why?
Responses
| 4 +1 | you won't want this to happen because... |
Yvonne Gallagher
|
Change log
Jun 18, 2021 00:48: writeaway changed "Field" from "Art/Literary" to "Other"
Responses
+1
5 hrs
Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Ireland
Native in English
&
English
Specializes in field
Ireland
right word, right place. everytime
Native in: English (Variants: Irish, UK, US, Canadian) 
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
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659
Selected
you won't want this to happen because...
yes, it seems like it's a bit contradictory.
I assume Chrisa is a gangster making a threat?
In this assumption he's saying:
if we send in someone (from municipal hygiene authorities presumably) to REALLY go through your kitchen it will be the LAST time for you (because they will close you down) although it will be the FIRST time you will get such a thorough inspection
I assume the gangsters have food inspectors paid off so can get places closed down if they don't pay the "protection" money
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Note added at 5 hrs (2021-06-18 06:10:09 GMT)
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typo: Chris
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Note added at 9 hrs (2021-06-18 10:18:42 GMT)
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@ Asker
Are you asking me or Phil that question?
I put the lot into the future in above example as a threat. It's about possibilities. I could also phrase it i different ways, e.g.using 2nd conditonal tenses past simple and would + inf
if we SENT someone to REALLY go through your kitchen it WOULD BE be the LAST time for you (because they would close you down)
and it WOULD BE the the FIRST time you WOULD get such a thorough inspection
when really it is all probabilities in the future
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Note added at 16 hrs (2021-06-18 17:18:05 GMT)
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Both things are POSSIBILITIES in the future. Could also use 1st Conditional:
If I send an inspector in to check your kitchen it will be the first and last time you will have such a thorough inspection as he will close you down
"the first and last time" is a common expression in English and means simultaneous actions e.g.
That will be the first and last time you say that/do that etc.
Have to go out now...
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Note added at 4 days (2021-06-23 00:18:09 GMT) Post-grading
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glad to have helped
I assume Chrisa is a gangster making a threat?
In this assumption he's saying:
if we send in someone (from municipal hygiene authorities presumably) to REALLY go through your kitchen it will be the LAST time for you (because they will close you down) although it will be the FIRST time you will get such a thorough inspection
I assume the gangsters have food inspectors paid off so can get places closed down if they don't pay the "protection" money
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs (2021-06-18 06:10:09 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
typo: Chris
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2021-06-18 10:18:42 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
@ Asker
Are you asking me or Phil that question?
I put the lot into the future in above example as a threat. It's about possibilities. I could also phrase it i different ways, e.g.using 2nd conditonal tenses past simple and would + inf
if we SENT someone to REALLY go through your kitchen it WOULD BE be the LAST time for you (because they would close you down)
and it WOULD BE the the FIRST time you WOULD get such a thorough inspection
when really it is all probabilities in the future
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 hrs (2021-06-18 17:18:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Both things are POSSIBILITIES in the future. Could also use 1st Conditional:
If I send an inspector in to check your kitchen it will be the first and last time you will have such a thorough inspection as he will close you down
"the first and last time" is a common expression in English and means simultaneous actions e.g.
That will be the first and last time you say that/do that etc.
Have to go out now...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 days (2021-06-23 00:18:09 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------
glad to have helped
Note from asker:
| Yvonne, my question in the Discussion box was sort of re-phrasing the original question, because after I'd got your answer I thought maybe I had not specify my problem clearly enough. I understand the threat, the inspectors being in the pocket of the mafia guys etc. What confused me was the order of events. Had the author used the 2nd conditional, it would all be perfectly clear, but he had not. |
| *specified |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Daryo
: I was about to post a very similar explanation. You got the key point: it's a threat to have the restaurant shut down.
4 hrs
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exactly. Thanks. Nothing to do about repeating the experience
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you"
Discussion
and here, as I (and Daryo) have said, the first time (IF a major inspection takes place) will also be the last (as closure will happen)
"The last time you had a health inspector really go through your kitchen" is really a fact from the past. The bar owner has already had such a detailed inspection.
"...will be the first time" - will prove to be the first of many times, of a series of detailed inspections which will take place if the owner does not agree to pay for "protection".
So it is: either you pay or you're going to have detailed inspections like every other day, with the perspective of closing the bar altogether looming over.
What do you think of it?
"We have a friend of ours [or as Margaret Thatcher would have said "he's one of ours"] who's health inspector that will go nitpicking through your restaurant (="really go through your kitchen") and WILL find a reason to shut it down". That's why "the first time we arrange for you to have "a thorough inspection of your kitchen" will also be the last.
"the last time you had an inspector" is the description of a situation that could happen in the future, as it would be perceived just after it happened (if it happens, it's purely hypothetical at the time of narration)
same as someone saying "while I'm doing this..." while in fact talking of past events - it was "the present" at the time it was happening, not at the time of talking about it.
In the same way "the last time you had an inspector" is how you would see the "inspection" just after it happened at some point in future - at that point it would be seen as "recent past".
And the implied undesirable consequence (= "your business will be closed for good") is obviously also in some hypothetical future.
"...will be the first time" - this has not happened yet. It's in the FUTURE.
So, a done fact from the past has not happened yet; it's still in the future.
What kind of time loop is that? What am I missing here?