With Manchester United set for crunch Arsenal clash... ==> difficult to understand!
I found this kind of newspaper English the most difficult part. It's not everyday English, nor formal English.
I have got 2 questions in the sentence in the title
1. with xx set for -- I expect a noun, or gerund here; However, crunch seems to be neither;
It obviously have taken a meaning extending its original one : to make a kind of noise or sound;
I suppose the meaning is close to beat the verb;
If I am correct, then we should say with Man United set for crunching ,, right?
2. clash means conflicts
Can we describe a 'match' as a 'conflict'? But anyway, there is not dictionary saying clash means 'a match'
Most dictionaries give examples like : the clash between the police and the riots -- which sounds reasonable to me
Hope someone could help to clarify.. thanks!BTW, I heard someone use the word 'crunch' before. The context was writing an article.
He said paragraph one is the introduction; para2 and para 3 is where you put your arguments, and are therefore your crunch --> does it mean something that make you win the game?
something like an ace in poker card; or a trump card
correct me if I'm wrong
Search from various English teachers...
Answers · 7
1
You are right, this is not everyday English but newspaper talk. Anyone actually talking like that in real life would get heavily mocked. About your particular points:
1. You are right to expect a noun after 'for', and that, in fact that is what you get, the noun being 'clash'. The words 'crunch Arsenal' act as qualifiers for 'clash' so 'crunch Arsenal clash' is a noun phrase. As Alexander has pointed out above, the meaning of 'crunch' in this context can be taken as 'crucial', 'important' etc.
2. Nothing to add to Alexander's comment.
Additional Details: I haven't actually come across this usage of 'crunch' before so am unable to shed any light. Are you sure that is the full sentence you have given?
0
"Crunch" in this case is related to its meaning in the phrase "crunch time", which refers to the time before a deadline when things need to happen or to a time when some sort of important decision has to be made. The match is very important presumably because ManU had a bad start to the season so getting points out of Arsenal is important.
As for the second question, sporting events are often referred to using words associated with combat or war. Battle, clash, etc. It's just colorful word choice.
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