Posted by Alan Hakim on March 25, 2001 at 19:42:16 from 195.44.206.87:
In Reply to: Re: FOR EVER, and others posted by Prue Eckett on March 24, 2001 at 23:07:38:
I think we can see in this collection five different usages of "for ever".
(1) The true meaning, "permanently in the future", e.g. the loss of Capt Flint's book if not found by Titty.
(2) More or less equivalent to "Long Live" in all the "S & A's FOR EVER" cries. Other languages often have a quite different word to express this meaning. "France/India for ever" become "Vive la France" and "Bharat Zindabad". In neither case could these be translated by the other four English meanings.
(3) For the foreseeable future, which in these contexts would be "next year and beyond". Very characteristic of the child's view of the future. "Every year. FOR EVER and ever," said Titty. "Aye," said Mrs. Dixon, "we all think that when we're young."
(4) "Again and again" with an undercurrent of "and I'm getting tired of it." "Mr. Turner that's FOR EVER gallivanting off to foreign parts..." As used by the GA.
(5) And finally, the very common usage "for a longer time than I can easily forecast". "We must just go ahead at the pace we know we can keep up FOR EVER." This fits into the scale of time measurements that was discussed here a few months ago. For ever is obviously much longer than a jiffy or a moment, but it's related.
All of these are frequently used in normal speech and writing.
The question Ed's list does raise in my mind is: was AR consciously aware of how much he used the phrase?