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hiromichi
Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 1380
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 Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 3:14 pm Post subject: Mother's Day |
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Will you paraphrase the expression "with every concession for modesty"?
Does it mean as much modestly as possible?
A few weeks before delivery, the wealthy young mother-to-be went into "confinement," staying in bed until the baby was born. Servants prepared a white-sheeted delivery room, with every concession for modesty.
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pinenut
Joined: 16 Feb 2006
Posts: 165
Location: Illinois, U.S.A.
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 3:48 pm Post subject: Re: Mother's Day |
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| hiromichi wrote: |
Will you paraphrase the expression "with every concession for modesty"?
Does it mean as much modestly as possible?
A few weeks before delivery, the wealthy young mother-to-be went into "confinement," staying in bed until the baby was born. Servants prepared a white-sheeted delivery room, with every concession for modesty. |
First of all, 'concession for modesty' is not a commonly used phrase. I searched on the google search engine for this phrase and found no examples. On the other hand, 'cocession to modesty' was found 1340 times.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English has the following entry:
concession
4 change of behaviour [countable] a change in your behaviour that you make because of a particular situation or idea:
He took off his jacket as a concession to the heat.
He made no concessions to fashion.
If I paraphrase 'concession to modesty', it reads: Let modesty control her behavior. The wealthy young mother-to-be had to settle for modesty (white-sheeted delivery room instead of more elaborate and colorful one) under the circumstance. |
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hiromichi
Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 1380
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 5:07 pm Post subject: |
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pinenut, Thank you. Now I get it. A comma before the phrase is also important, isn't it?
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Philo Kevetch
Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 564
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| Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 8:25 pm Post subject: |
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- "white sheets" = clean, sanitary
- "every concession for modesty" = an upper class (Victorian Era?) lady shy about, and careful not to, show her body so...private room, screen, curtains, etc. |
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hiromichi
Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 1380
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| Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 4:31 am Post subject: |
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Philo Kevetch: Thank you for your additional lecture. Eslcafe takes a really teamwork approach in answering to students' questions.
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