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I read an article (written by a teacher in Taiwan) on Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution." One paragraph confused me:

There, everyone reached a conclusion: lust was Mr. Yee's weakness. If lust was to be, let it be lust.

I wonder if the last sentence is grammatical.

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I can't see why you might think it isn't grammatical, so don't know how to answer beyond "it is". It is a relatively unusual construction, but I don't see what has you suspecting it is ungrammatical. – Jon Hanna Feb 5 at 10:58
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(I also suspect that it should be If lust it was to be, let it be lust, but that still doesn't let us know just what your question is specifically about). – Jon Hanna Feb 5 at 11:12
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@Jon: It seems to me that "If lust was to be, let it be lust" is semantic nonsense, so I can well understand why the OP is confused about whether the sentence is grammatical. However, OP, let this be a very important lesson about grammar & meaning: They don't necessarily go together, & not only in semantically nonsensical sentences like "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously" (written by linguist Noam Chomsky to make a point about grammar). Sometimes, when people like the teacher in Taiwan try to be clever with words, they find themselves in a vacuous semantic cul de sac like this one. – Bill Franke Feb 5 at 12:14
@BillFranke yes, I strongly suspect that's the case. Even if my hunch is correct and it should be If lust it was to be..., that's still probably a "darling" that should have been murdered. It makes it all the harder though to focus in on just what difficulty a particular person may have with it, so we could write on it for ages without getting to the nub. Even being as fond of writing long answers as I am, I'd prefer to aim right at their point of confusion. – Jon Hanna Feb 5 at 12:41
@Jon: Your revision reads much better, & I suspect it's what the teacher wanted to say, but I agree it should be the litter runt or the chick pushed out of the nest: murder most fair. The source, it seems to me, is garbled language & lack of meaning. Most civilians don't understand the difference between a grammar & style problem much less a grammar & semantic problem. For them, almost all language problems are "grammar problems". But I could be wrong. – Bill Franke Feb 5 at 13:16

closed as too localized by tchrist, Andrew Leach, MετάEd, Kristina Lopez, cornbread ninja 麵包忍者 Feb 5 at 21:31

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