# or a hat, one



## Quantz

A man explains a story about a coffee shop :
"The place closed after two men were shot over a silver hatband *or a hat, one*".

Meaning he does not remember well, and maybe the story is 2 men were shot over a hatband, or juste *one man over a hat* ?
Context is no help, I must say.


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## floise

Hellstan,

I think that the 'one' refers to the hat, not the men.

He is emphasizing 'one' to show how stupid it was that two people were killed over one silly item. 

The only other possibility I can see is that he is then going to enumerate other statements. He first says the above, followed by 'one', and then he says: 'And secondly, .....'

floise


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## Quantz

Hello, floise

Meaning he does not remember exactly if it was for a hat or just for the hatband ?


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## floise

I think it means: ou un chapeau, un seul chapeau.

floise


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## Quantz

"se sont entretués pour un ruban de chapeau, ou juste pour le chapeau"


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## archijacq

peut-on penser (avec ce qui suit) qu'il s'agit d'une énumération d'événements liés à ce troquet?
"one" pourrait alors vouloir dire "et de une, il s'est passé telle chose" (tout a démarré avec ça)


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## Quantz

Non, cher archi ; ensuite, l'énumération passe à un autre endroit (ils roulenrt dans la rue et passent devant plusieurs endroits successifs) ; ce "one" reste épineux…


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## hunternet

The urban Dictionary indique que "one" est utilisé pour terminer une conversation, pour remplacer "salut" ou "A+".

peut-être peut-on ici l'interpréter par "c'est tout" ou "et voilà", "rien de plus", "rien à ajouter"...


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## Quantz

Piste précieuse, hunternet, merci/


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## floise

Hellstan,

I think that hunternet might have found the answer.

But this would probably be language used by gang members in the U.S. or would be specific to some ethnic or racial groups (I am totally unfamiliar with this usage of 'one'). Do you have a profile of the person talking? (It would help if you offered this type of information when asking for help with your texts, as it would provide extra context...and we'd know to go to the Urban Dictionary right away!!!)

floise


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## Quantz

The scene is a little town in northwest America, between a foreman
and his co-worker.
Sorry I did not give that element of context here, because I posted
several questions about the same scene since 2 days, and was so
deeply involved in it I forgot that you might not be aware of my
previous posts, of course.
My apology here.
So no mobsters here, only this man telling the story of some places
in that little town.
Immediate context in sentence does not help, because before that he
speaks about the church and after that about a video store…
So I'm afraid UrbanDict would not be of any help here.
Thank you again for all your efforts…


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## floise

Hellstan,

Given that context, I don't think the meaning of 'one' given in the urban dictionary would be correct. If you look in the Urban Dictionary, this 'one' is used in sentences where the speakers seem to be cool-talking Blacks or young 'cool' urban dwellers:

one                               

                    to end a converssation
_*yo im about to be out, one.*_


or:


                    bye; cya lata
_Osama: Bye shaq!
Shaq:* one*_



And this is not the case of the speakers in your conversation: a foreman and a worker in the northwest U.S.

I'm afraid we haven't solved your problem.

floise


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## Quantz

Floise,
The only hypothesis then would be that the author substituted his own language to his character, or applying to him the wrong vernacular, "forgetting" that nuance you are stressing on now.


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## floise

Hellstan,

I don't think the author would inject his way of talking into a dialogue of his characters. It does not seem likely.

I still see only two possibilities: using _one_ to emphasize that there was _only one hat_, or using _one _to enumerate a list of statements (as I had said in post 2 and archijacq said in post 6, but which you rejected).

floise


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## Quantz

I don't think the author would inject his way of talking into a dialogue of his characters. It does not seem likely.

*** I know, you're right.

I still see only two possibilities: using _one_ to emphasize that there was _only one hat_, or using _one _to enumerate a list of statements (as I had said in post 2 and archijacq said in post 6, but which you rejected).

*** "And there, this is Bradshaw Auto Parts, in the defunct Liberty Bar. The place closed after two men were shot over a silver hatband *or a hat, one*".

I don't understand the emphasis on the fact that there was juste one hat.
And the enumeration doesn't not work either.
I'm really puzzled with this "one".


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## hunternet

peut-être :

faute de frappe -> once ?


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## Quantz

Well, hunternet, some publishers are fond of typos, but here, I must admit the book has none — as far as I know.


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## sam's mum

I think it means that 2 men were shot over a silver hatband, and one (other) man was shot over just a hat. But it's a very strange sentence.


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## GLàMTL

hellstan said:


> "The place closed after two men were shot over a silver hatband *or a hat, one*".


 

I don't really understand the sentence, but another possible reading is that the 'one' is short for 'one or the other', meaning that the speaker isn't sure if the shooting was over a hat or a hatband.

Even if the context doesn't directly provide information about this sentence, it might help to get a feel for the style of language.


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## Quantz

Sam's, it was my first option (post 1), but it might imply here that the memory is not accurate, or the incident remained confused, the story being that 2 men died for a hatband, or one man over a hat.


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## Quantz

GLàMTL : another sentence in the same paragraph, so you see that language here is rather polished (not your average urban babbling here), knowing that the book has a "nouveau roman _western_ à l'américaine" flavour to it.

"And that's the video store in the old Mercy Restaurant which had been originally established by two families that dropped off the Oregon Trail."


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## Kelly B

Perhaps he shortened the expression "one or the other" or "one of those" - _soit pour le chapeau, soit pour son ruban (?) en argent._


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## sam's mum

hellstan said:


> Sam's, it was my first option (post 1), but it might imply here that the memory is not accurate, or the incident remained confused, the story being that 2 men died for a hatband, or one man over a hat.


 
I meant that I think that 3 men died in all, the _or _referring to the 2 reasons they died. Just my opinion, though.


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## Quantz

Kelly and Sam, thank you, I appreciate.
Both your readings are  quite accurate, but I cannot make up my mind.
This is really thorny…


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## floise

Hellstan,

It looks like he's enumerating places in town that have changed vocations. This is the 'enumeration theory' that I and archijacq proposed. Your second sentence and the complete first sentence give more support to this idea.

He simply did not continue his enumeration using numbers. He went on to talk about another place (And that's the ....).

floise


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## GLàMTL

In the end, I find the sentence pretty inscrutable. If I had to guess, I'd personally go with the 'one or the other' explanation, but I wouldn't bet money on it. 

Sometimes people just don't speak clearly- what can you do!

Edit: Just saw floise's new post.  Yeah, I might go with the enumeration theory too, but I'm still not confident.


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## Quantz

Floise,
I don't want to ruin your efforts, as you're always so helpful.
That could possibly hold true if the hat story was the first occurrence of the enumeration. 
Sadly, it's the fifth in the list (the description of these places runs on two full pages.)
I realize now I should have be more accurate in my explanations…
Context and general meaning seem to me more in favour of the alternative,
though I'm not sure, as I said, of the exact meaning here.
I just _tend_ to think Kelly's, hunternet and GL reading are closer to the truth.
I must confess I'm stuck here.


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## hunternet

ce pourrait être un chapeau taille unique, dans ce cas :

one --> one size fits all 

Ca rajouterait pas mal d'ironie à la phrase, mais bon tout dépend si l'auteur fait preuve d'ironie d'un ton sarcastique dans le bouquin.

PS : j'espère que ce n'est pas à la page 12, sinon tu n'es pas sorti de l'auberge, ou du défunt bar héhé. mais la suggestion de kelly B en 22 est très intéressante, comme le dit Floise plus bas...


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## floise

I vote in favor of Kelly B's interpretation in post 22.

floise


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## Quantz

I concur and second floise's vote.
It's the most elegant solution.
A big thank you to all of you,
and to our favourite "contextomane".


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## USMeg

Being the closest to an American "country person" that these forums have, I will confidently state that GLàMTL has the right interpretation here.  I think the sentence would read better if there were an additional comma for a pause after the word hatband.  "One" in this context stands in for "one or the other" or "one of the two."  The speaker does not clearly remember whether the dispute was over the hatband or the hat.


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