Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[utage]

Hi teachers,

I don't understand this word "diminutive mother".

This word is in this sentence used like
"She knew, of course, my sly detective, my dark-eyed diminutive mother."

[bud]

It means "very small."

[utage]

Thank you.

If possible, could you tell me the meaning of this following sentence.

"She knew, of course, my sly detective, my dark-eyed diminutive mother."

[bud]

It sounds as though someone is writing about something from their childhood. The sentence seems affectionate and admiring of the mother.

The main sentence is, "She knew." It must be that she knew about something the author had done. Then "of course" is added, which tells us that the mother was pretty smart or that there is some other obvious reason that she would have known. (And we would have already read about that before this sentence.)

The rest of the sentence is two modifying clauses that tell us more about the mother, but not any more about the story being told. "My sly detective" is further support that the mother is smart. It's hard to get one by her. The fact that "my" was used tells me that the author feels affection for mother - it's a way of voluntarily taking "ownership" of mother.

Then "my dark-eyed, diminutive mother" gives us more clues about the mother and the relationship between her and the author. "Dark-eyed" suggests perhaps intimidiating at times, despite her diminutive stature. I'd guess that mother was a tough mother, one that you'd appreciate and understand much more as an adult than as a child. (That's my guess anyway - it's hard to say anything for sure about mother or the relationship with just one sentence.)