Love the @ryannorth.ca guest appearance
It's a fair cop.
objects fall "in" holes but people fall "down" them. This distinction stems from 15th century English where reflexive verbs often followed the logic of French pronominals, where objects receive actions while people are "acted upon--" *tackled by footballer*
It's a question of positionalities, surely. To "fall in" indicates a completed from-> to motion, becoming to being; you were not in the hole, now you are. Whereas "falling down" is only a singular direction of indefinite length. Could I still be falling down? So long as "down" persists, possibly...
distinction is: if the hole is deeper than i am tall
Just now realizing "fell in a hole" seems to suggest already being in the hole when the fall commenced. Everything I know (other than experientially) about falling in holes is now in question. Falling... into a hole? Falling near a hole and THEN into it? Falling into, and then, briefly, in a hole?