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Can "what" mean " what role" in this sentence?

English Language & Usage Asked on May 25, 2021

I’d like to know if "what" could convey the meaning of "what role" in the sentence below as "what role others expect from us" is mentioned.

As a flight attendant, my uniform can imply both what role others expect from me and what I should play

3 Answers

I'd like to know if "what" could convey the meaning of "what role" in the sentence below as "what role others expect from us" is mentioned.

As a flight attendant, my uniform can imply both what role others expect from me and what I should play

No, it doesn't work. "What" never refers backward, it always refers forward. Instead use "that" to refer back.

One way to make it clear would be:

As a flight attendant, my uniform can imply both what role others expect from me and that which I should play.

Alternatively:

As a flight attendant, my uniform can imply both the role others expect from me and the one I should play.

or

As a flight attendant, my uniform can imply both what others expect from me and what role I should play.

Answered by chasly - supports Monica on May 25, 2021

As I interpret it, the sentence states an interesting concept, but it could be clearer:

"As a flight attendant, my uniform can imply what role I should play and what role others expect me to play."

The uniform tells the flight attendant herself what her duties should be, but others may see the flight attendant in another light, and so see her duties differently.

If in the above sentence "role" were omitted, you would have

"As a flight attendant, my uniform can imply what I should play and what others expect me to play."

This works, but it makes more of a demand on the reader to interpret it correctly.

Answered by Zan700 on May 25, 2021

It's not really clear. To drop words, you need more parallelism. If you had the same subject, it work much better. For instance, if you say "I don't know what clothes I should bring, and what I should leave", it's clear that both "what" refer to clothes.

Answered by Acccumulation on May 25, 2021

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