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The following is an illustrative sentence explaining the word 'reck' in the electronic dictionary 'Kingsoft PowerWord'.But I have been awfully puzzling by it.I conjecture that this idea should be expressed with the word of 'reck' as 'What does he reck if the sky should fall?' or ' What recks him if the sky should fall?'.

Is it idiomatic saying or loose expression in oral English? Or,maybe it is right incorrectness?

---------What recks he if the sky should fall ? ------------[][/color][/u][/b]

Dear friend,

RECK is often used in poem or literature, so the utilization is very complex and sophisticated. And it is very often used in negative sentences, such as :

I reck not though I end my life to-day. --Shak.

Of me she recks not, nor my vain desire. --M. Arnold.


In this case, i think the sentence is RIGHT :

What recks he if the sky should fall?

And it means "What will/could he reck if the sky should fall?"

I can't explain the grammar here but i've found a similar example:
Then reck I not, when I have lost my life. --Chaucer.
(This sentence together with the 2 sentences above is taken from Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. They are also the examples for the word RECK.)

Cheers

Thanks to you 2 enthusiastic friends! I get it over!