Singular combination
" The same, I say, because in all these cases the native American liberally provides the brains, the rest of the world as generously supplying the muscles".

Can you direct me in apprehension this one structure of the sentence? I cannot fully grasp the combination of plural " brains " in conjunction with " the native American " as a singular noun.

Thanks a lot.

Question

Singular combination
" The same, I say, because in all these cases the native American liberally provides the brains, the rest of the world as generously supplying the muscles".

Can you direct me in apprehension this one structure of the sentence? I cannot fully grasp the combination of plural " brains " in conjunction with " the native American " as a singular noun.

Thanks a lot.

Answer

We all have difficulty in equating "American" with "brains".

Anyway: 
You have brains = You're intelligent.
You have the brains = You supply the thinking.
When referring to intelligence we always say "brains". The brain is an organ in the head.
I think that should clear that up.

Answer

Because the singular 'Native American' is being used to refer to the entire peoples and/or he is telling stories of Native Americans and in each story the Native American had been the smart one, if that makes any sense. It is confusing but usually only found in rare cases or in older documents.

Answers · 4

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