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Hypothetical Question For You

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hammerman | 13:57 Sat 15th Dec 2012 | Law
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Ok, i bought a tropical marine fish this week which was labelled in the shop as an "aiptasia eating filefish", it cost me £20.

Now without boring you to death, this fish should eat little aiptasia or glass anemones...a real pest in salt water reef aquariums.

If the fish didn't eat such pests, could i return it and ask for my money back because it didn't do the job it was sold/advertised for ?

Ta muchly
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This conjures in my mind that scene in 'Gladiator' where Oliver Reed grabs the slave trader by the family jewels and growls 'you...sold...me....queer...giraffes....'

Might that work?
As Lyn Truss would eloquently explain, it depends on whether you were sold a 'aiptasia-eating filefish' or an 'aiptasia eating filefish'.
The former is a filefish that enjoys aiptasias as part of its diet, however the latter is an aiptasia that has been caught red-handed nibbling at a filefish.

A more common example is the example of a sheep-worrying dog. Missing the important hyphen turns it into a massive woolly creature, capable of antagonising most domestic canines.
You would never be able to prove that the purchased fish were eating NO aiptasia at all - they may be eating some but not have a big appetite.
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Thanks guys, just wondered if there was any comeback on live animals not "doing the job" they were sold for.

@ Buildersmate, Surely the way you describe it using an apostrophe would mean i've bought an aiptasia that eats filefish or, as your other example says, a sheep that worries dogs ?

Just a thought lol

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