Subj : to pull the door to against
To   : mark lewis
From : Ardith Hinton
Date : Mon Jan 06 2020 23:46:40

Hi, Mark!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

AH>  I guess "pull to" makes more sense from the door's POV
AH>  than it did from mine at first.

ml>  then you have folks like myself... i use either "push
ml>  to" or "pull to" depending on which side of the door
ml>  the victim will be on when they exit ;)

ml>  "hey, push the door to as you leave" - door opens out

ml>  "pull the door to on your way out" - door opens in


          In any number of other circumstances "pull" would mean your victim is 
applying force toward him/herself.  If the verb tells us the direction in which 
the force is to be applied & the adverb tells us where you'd like the action to 
stop, you could theoretically use "push" or "pull".  I suspect "pull to" may be 
an idiomatic expression, however... meaning it's an "exception" to the "rules". 
 the usual rules in which casuch cases the rules are different.



ml>  in either case, the goal of closing the door but not all
ml>  the way is accomplished...


          WRT the excerpt Alexander cited, I figure the narrator would probably 
have closed the door all the way.  But I can see that if a bus stops to pick up 
&/or discharge passengers or if a boat is being tied up at the wharf it's usual 
to allow for a bit of open space between such expen$ive means of transportation 
& any fixed objects which might potentially damage them.  By the same reckoning 
my CANADIAN OXFORD defines "to" as "a nearly closed position" when "pull to" is 
used in reference to a door... and it sounds to me as if that's the way you use 
the adverb.  Other sources, if they list the phrase, seem divided as to whether 
or not the action in such cases goes on until the door is firmly shut.  As long 
as your family & friends know what you mean, I guess that's what matters.  They 
can ask you in person if they don't.  But we can't ask Mr. Fitzgerald....  :-))




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)

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