On 2 July 2011, at 10:49, David Haller wrote:
> ...
>> "its name escapes me" = I can't remember its name
>
> Almost: "I know I knew its name[, but at the moment,] the memory of
> that name has escaped (or fled) my mind" ;) Or: "I can't _quite_
> remember it (now), but I should, I know it's there, but it has escaped
> into some corner of my mind and is making faces at me" (or something
> similar). A slight distinction [cf. non-random sig] ;)
OT, but I'm not sure that I see the difference. I was merely trying to give a
simple explanation for the benefit of a non-native English speaker.
My "compact" edition of the 24 volume Oxford English dictionary gives no more
than:
5) To elude (observation, search, etc.); to elude the notice of a person,
…
b) to elude (a person's recollection).
The earliest recorded usage (of b) was by Sir William Hope in 1696, translating
J de Solleysel's "La Connoissance parfaite des chevaux" ("The Compleat
Horseman") when he wrote "Lest it might have escaped my memory, I here set it
down". In 1865, Dickens used it with the use of "memory" or "recollection" only
implied, writing "The name of which escapes me".
But, y'know, I didn't think that was relevant or assisted Meino's understanding.
Stroller.
