Talk:set the tone
Latest comment: 5 years ago by Canonicalization in topic set the tone
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Looks like SOP to me. Just we don't have a defn at tone yet. --Repasando (talk) 23:03, 23 November 2012 (UTC)
- Looks idiomatic to me, in at least some uses. I'd be interested to see what definition(s) would cover them all. Chuck Entz (talk) 00:21, 24 November 2012 (UTC)
- The missing sense at tone#Noun was something like "General character, mood, or trend." Delete DCDuring TALK 01:54, 24 November 2012 (UTC)
- Still, there are many definitions of tone, and by default we don't mean the primary one.
Weak keep.DAVilla 16:53, 24 November 2012 (UTC)- Since this is a dictionary for humans who are aware of the context in which they read or hear a word, the normal state of affairs is that they proceed through a list of senses to find the one they need. One need have only the vaguest notion of what set means to suss out the relevant sense of tone. Even if one needs to iterate between the entries for set and tone the process is highly likely to be a rapidly convergent one. DCDuring TALK 17:17, 24 November 2012 (UTC)
- The fact that tone has many definitions is precisely why we have an entry tone. Am I missing something? Mglovesfun (talk) 18:03, 24 November 2012 (UTC)
- You're right in that it's not a strong enough argument at least in this case, where it's just one of the words in the phrase that is not of primary meaning. DAVilla 06:35, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
- This doesn't seem to be unique, "set the mood", "set the atmosphere" and "set the ethos" all get thousands of Google Book hits. For this reason, delete. Mglovesfun (talk) 14:01, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
- You're right in that it's not a strong enough argument at least in this case, where it's just one of the words in the phrase that is not of primary meaning. DAVilla 06:35, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
- The fact that tone has many definitions is precisely why we have an entry tone. Am I missing something? Mglovesfun (talk) 18:03, 24 November 2012 (UTC)
- Since this is a dictionary for humans who are aware of the context in which they read or hear a word, the normal state of affairs is that they proceed through a list of senses to find the one they need. One need have only the vaguest notion of what set means to suss out the relevant sense of tone. Even if one needs to iterate between the entries for set and tone the process is highly likely to be a rapidly convergent one. DCDuring TALK 17:17, 24 November 2012 (UTC)
- Still, there are many definitions of tone, and by default we don't mean the primary one.
deleted -- Liliana • 15:45, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
References
[edit]- “set the tone for something”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
- “set the tone”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.