r/oneliners • u/awesome_smokey • 6d ago
I'm getting my son a time machine for Christmas this year, he fucking loved it.
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u/ballcheese808 6d ago
Loves?
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u/scottythe1b 6d ago
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u/ballcheese808 6d ago
So when you give a Christmas present to your kid, you say they loved it..... Loves it implies it continues. So, setting aside the attempt at a time travel gag, grammar still plays a part.
I bought my kid a bike for Christmas, he loves it.
So you know what you can do with that whoosh
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u/awesome_smokey 6d ago
Loves also implies the present (day, not gift). Loved implies the past, which is the gag. The grammar is solid.
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u/DutchOfBurdock 6d ago
Going into the future and coming back is a past event (causal paradox), therefore loved.
When that future event comes and he gets to play with the time machine, it'll then be he loves it.
Let's be pedantic at least 😜
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u/ballcheese808 6d ago
Loves implies it is continuing.
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u/djames10 6d ago
Maybe it is? Come on ballcheese, you’re so close.
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u/ballcheese808 6d ago
If only I gave a fk
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u/HereToPostSillyStuff 4d ago
Loves is the present simple tense. You are thinking of "is loving" for the continuous tense.
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u/ballcheese808 4d ago
Present simple or not it implies that is continuing, and not finished. He loves it. He plays guitar. He has a car.
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u/HereToPostSillyStuff 4d ago
Okay I think I see the confusion. You're referring to how a stative verb in the present tense implies something ongoing because that state has not concluded yet.
Whereas the past tense of that same stative verb can imply conclusion. As in "I loved you" meaning I don't any more.
In this case, the phrase "he loved it" is not concluding the state of "love" regarding the gift. Rather it is stating his reaction at the time the event of receiving the gift occurred, and since that event is in the past, the past tense is used.
If I tell you that "my son opened his present yesterday, and he loved it", I am not telling you that he does not still love it today. I am simply referring to the entire event in the past tense, as that event has concluded.
If you talk to your partner and tell them that "I loved you the first time I ever laid eyes on you", you're not saying that the state of love has concluded, or what you feel now, only what the feeling was at that prior point in time.
Hope that clears it up!
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u/ballcheese808 4d ago
It didn't need to be cleared up. I understand english just fine. I clearly understand that both are possible to describe the situation. We would use either in the situation, whatever comes out of your mouth at the time.
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u/HereToPostSillyStuff 4d ago
You were claiming that "grammar still plays a part" which implied you thought there was a grammatical error in the original post, which there wasn't, hence I thought it needed clearing up.
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u/Eastwood96 5d ago
Well, be safe and happy trav--oh, wait...