I make a delicious cheese cake

(1)    A: How do you get to work? 

        B: I walk to work.  

This  has a habitual reading. It is usually the case that I walk to work. On most days I walk to work. Something like this. There is some regularity involved. 

It feels like in the case below there is an additional modal component involved, expressing a kind of ability:

(2)   A: Wow this store-bought cheese cake is really delicious.

        B: Man, you should try mine, I make a delicious cheese cake.  

What does this mean? It seems to permit a modal paraphrase: I am able to make a delicious cheese cake. However, I am not sure that the sentence necessarily means that I make cheesecakes often or habitually.

I might have been a world champion cheese cake maker 25 years ago, but still posses the necessary skills. (Is the sentence good in this context?)

The sentence would sound odd if I had never made a cheesecake before, even if I were for reason very confident in my skills. For example: I read every book on cheese cakes, watch every youtube video about how to make cheese cakes and possess all the necessary tools in my kitchen. It would not be licit  to say (2B) in this case. 

This ability meaning is not present in (1). I am able to walk to work is a necessary condition for me to walk to work, but it seems this is not what is expressed. 

It seems also that the predicate delicious is necessary for this to work, as (3) without the adjective is off. 

(3) ??I make a cheese cake.

Why does (2) become bad if it's about interesting books instead of delicious cheese cakes?

(4)   A: Wow, this book by that author is good.

        B: Man, you should read mine, #I write an interesting book.

Because books are always different by default and cheesecakes are kind of the same thing? Because books are written less frequently then cheesecakes are made? 

(5)   A: This table seems a bit wobbly. (talking to a carpenter)

        B: Man, you should try mine, ?#I craft a solid table. 

What is going on?

More examples

This restaurant makes the best falafel sandwich in town.

This restaurant makes a good falafel sandwich. 

This restaurant makes a falafel sandwich. (Does this have the relevant reading?)

This guy writes an interesting book.  (By default, this does not have the relevant reading?)

My uncle grills a mean burger. 

She makes delicious Pfannkuchen. 

She paints a beautiful painting. (?)

This contractor builds a solid house (?)

 

 Photo: Sasha's 27th bday birthday cheese cake with its corresponding Schablone

Sorry, table

I turn around quickly in a room and bump into the table. Out of reflex I exclaim "Oh I'm sorry!". I realize it was the table and not a person. I can later report this by saying: 

"You know what happened to me today? I apologized to the table. LOL"

I definitely said the words "I'm sorry" but did I really apologize to the table? It seems there is a sense in which it is true (uttering the words, sound waves). But isn't there also a sense in which it is not true? In the second sense the recipient seems required to be able to accept or understand the apology... there is something funny about this. 

funny way of expressing conditionals

 

PLEASE do not throw paper towels, sanitary towels, tampons or similar waste into the toilet. 

Clogging and failure of the toilet is inevitable!

The negation of the please-clause seems to provide the restrictor for the modal. Worlds where people throw stuff in the toilet are worlds where it clogs. What is going on? Some hidden if ? Some covert otherwise?

hmmm...

Please take an umbrella. 

Getting wet is inevitable!

Please do your homework. 

Failing the class is inevitable! 

Please slow down. 

Death is inevitable! 

Please clean the kitchen.

A mess is inevitable!

fake bankers

 

A sign in the stairwell of my building warns: Crooks posing as fake bankers!

What does a fake banker look like and how do you pretend to be one?

Putting weird things in the oven

 

A few days ago, I klicked on a youtube video titled: 

PUTTING WEIRD THINGS IN THE OVEN - Time Lapse [4K]

I was excited to see, what weird things the person would put in the oven and surprised to find, that none of the things put in the oven, were in fact weird. They were regular items you would find in any household. 

This is unexpected, if we compare it with the following variations:

PUTTING BLUE THINGS IN THE OVEN

PUTTING WOODEN THINGS IN THE OVEN

PUTTING BROKEN THINGS IN THE OVEN

In all of the cases above the things we put in the oven, are in fact blue, wooden and broken. 

The title however, is perfectly fine, so what is going on here? 

What is described as weird, it seems, are not the things themselves, but rather the fact, or event of them being in the oven. Unpeeled bananas, ice cream and watermelon, are things which we usually not find in the oven, the item together with its location can be described as weird. 

Is this a case of the beautiful dancer? 

A beautiful dancer can be someone who dances beautifully, a heavy smoker might be smoking heavily, but is this parallel to the case which we are dealing with here? It seems weird does not modify the putting of things in the oven. We could not paraphrase it by saying putting things in the oven weirdly. 

Putting funny/intersting/odd/strange/bizarre things in the oven.

All of these predicates are vague and depend on the taste and opinion of a person. Weird is always relative to something of course. A penguin in the antarctic is not surprising, a penguin in my kitchen is weird. Nothing is per se weird. But often times when we say something is weird we understand some background from context, which tells us with respect to what the weirdness should be understood. We can make this explicit by a for... phrase. 

You have weird opinions for a liberal. 

The food is delicious for something you cooked. 

The speech was funny for an obituary. 

It seems then, that weird is doubly relative, in one case it depends on what I, the speaker thinks is weird,  on the other hand it depends on In our case this background restriction is made explicit by the phrase in the oven. So maybe a paraphrase could be: 

Putting things that are weird things, for things in the oven, in the oven. 

Here are some more examples, that follow the same pattern: 

Burning weird things in the fire. 

Burning things that are weird things, for things being burned in the fire, in the fire. 

Drilling wholes in weird things with a drill. 

Drilling wholes in things, which are weird things, for things having wholes drilled in them with a drill. 

Cutting pieces off weird things with an axe. 

Cutting pieces off things, which are weird things for things having pieces cut off them with an axe. 

Could it be the occasional sailor? 

To be continued. 

A small note: Could it be that the result of putting the things in a (hot) oven is weird. What if the context made it clear that the oven is off and cold? Would the title still be an acceptable description of the scenario? 

How dangerous is it really?

Some brain storming on really

What is the meaning contribution of this really in wh-questions?

How dangerous is it really?
Who do you really love? 
Why did you really cancel the appointment? 

Intuitively, some kind of doubt or disbelief is expressed. Something like I don't believe you, tell me the truth. A demand to be sincere. An accusation of not being sincere. 

It seems that the issue needs to be present in the previous discourse. I cannot use really in an out of the blue question, for example at the start of a conversation:

#Hello, nice to meet you! My name is David. Who are you, really? 
#I'll have an espresso and a croissant. How long will I really have to wait? 

Maybe, using really allows me to re-open an issue that was believed to be resolved.

A parphrase using the adjective real seems to be possible (in all cases?) 

    How dangerous is it really?
    What is the real danger? 

    Who do you really love?
    Who is the real object of your love? 

    Why did you really cancel the appointment?
    What is the real reason you cancelled the appointment? 

What does real even mean? 

It also seems really carries a special kind of intonation in these cases. Does it make a difference if really carries stress or not? 

    Why did you REALLY cancel the appointment?
    Why did you really cancel the appointment? 

In German: 

    Wen liebst du wirklich?
    Warum warst du wirklich dort? 
    Wo waren Sie wirklich am achten Dezember 1987? 

French: 

    Qui aime-tu vraiment ? 
    Pourquoi étais-tu vraiment là ?

Is the contribution parallel in polar-questions? 

    Did you really forget to turn off the stove? 
    Can you really not do this alone? 
    Does he really ride his bike to the office every day? 

It seems again, that some element of disbelief or doubt is being expressed here. The same goes for affirmative sentences. All of the sentences below might well be continued with ...I just can't believe it! 

    I really did it! 
    He really forgot his backpack on the train again. 
    My god, she really cooked a delicious meal, only to forget it in the fridge.  

really(p) = The speaker doesn't believe that p. 

This seems to strong. This would predict that the speaker completely refuses the proposition in scope of really. But in the cases above the sentences are acceptable in a context where the speaker knows that the proposition is true. I really did it! Does not mean: I did it and I do not believe that I did it. 

I guess one question we have to ask at this point is the difference between  believe in the common phrase I can't believe it! vs its use as an attitude. 

What if really expresses surprise? What about this:

really(p) = The speaker is surprised that p. 

This seems to work well for the affirmative cases. I really did it! seems to mean something like I did it and I am surprise that I did it! What about questions? Does it work as well? Does he really ride his bike to the office every day?  does this mean that I am surprised about the answer to this question? What exactly does this mean? 

Spinatsalat mediterran style

 Salada de Spinaccio

Spinat 

oliven

zwiebel

kleine tom

kichererbsen

gurke

walnuss

sonnenblumenkerne

dressing: 

olivenöl

balsamico

zitrone

kräuter