Hypothetical Question For You

[hammerman]

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

[Mosaic]

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?

[buildersmate]

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.

[wolf63]

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.

[hammerman]

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