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Discussion Groups / English Usage / April 2008can you help me revise the language
can you help me revise the language When Maugham traveled around China, he specially visited the representative of conservatism Ku Hongming. Someone even said: “If you go to Peking, you may skip a visit to the old Imperial Palace, but you must not miss a chance to see Ku Hung-Ming.” To visit “the greatest authority in China on the Confucian learning” is “one of the intensives of somewhat arduous journey” (Maugham, On 147). In Maugham’s eyes, Ku was learned, eloquent, conservative in thought and a man of strong character. Ku’s appearance was also unique for the shabbily-dressed old man always wore a thin grey queue and was an opium-smoker according to the hearsay. Even before Maugham came to China, he admired Ku for he was a Chinese philosopher of great name in Britain. Maugham admired Ku so much that he behaved just like a pupil before Ku. Maugham’s pen, like a photographer, even recorded every detail when he visited Ku. > can you help me revise the language > > When Maugham traveled around China, he specially visited he made a special visit to > the > representative of conservatism Ku Hongming. Someone even said: “If you > go to Peking, you may skip a visit to the old Imperial Palace, but you > must not miss a chance to see Ku Hung-Ming.” To visit “the greatest > authority in China on the Confucian learning” is “one of the > intensives of somewhat arduous journey” Check that you've quoted this correctly: I'm not sure what "intensives" means, and there's an "a" missing. > (Maugham, On 147). > > In Maugham’s eyes, Ku was learned, eloquent, conservative in thought > and a man of strong character. Ku’s appearance was also unique comma > for the > shabbily-dressed old man always wore a thin grey queue pigtail, (comma) > and was an > opium-smoker comma > according to the delete "the" > hearsay. Even before Maugham came to > China, he admired Ku comma > for he was a Chinese philosopher of great name fame (or renown) > in > Britain. Maugham admired Ku so much that he behaved just like a pupil > before Ku him > . Maugham’s pen, like a photographer, even recorded every > detail when he visited Ku. Was the pen like a photographer? I think you mean Maugham wrote about everything in photographic detail after his visits toKu.  Signatureathel >> can you help me revise the language >> [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > pigtail, (comma) I agree with the punctuation suggestion here, but don't find the use of "queue" out of place in any way. Isn't that the source of the BrE name for the line that people stand in? >>> can you help me revise the language >>> >>> [ ... ] >>> for the >>> shabbily-dressed old man always wore a thin grey queue [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > I agree with the punctuation suggestion here, but don't find the use of > "queue" out of place in any way. My dictionary (SOED) agrees with you, but despite that I don't think I've ever come across "queue" used like that in BrE. > Isn't that the source of the BrE name for the line that people stand in? Quite possibly, but my dictionary doesn't go into that much detail: it just says that both derive from Latin cauda. Signatureathel >>>> can you help me revise the language >>>> [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Quite possibly, but my dictionary doesn't go into that much detail: it > just says that both derive from Latin cauda. COED (Compact Oxford) online: noun 1 a line of people or vehicles awaiting their turn to be attended to or to proceed. 2 Computing a list of data items, commands, etc., stored so as to be retrievable in a definite order. verb (queues, queued, queuing or queueing) wait in a queue. - ORIGIN originally as a heraldic term denoting an animal's tail, later a long plait: from French, from Latin cauda 'tail'; compare with CUE2 (which also leads to COED: cue2 . noun a long tapering wooden rod for striking the ball in snooker, billiards, etc. . verb (cues, cued, cueing or cuing) use a cue to strike the ball. - ORIGIN originally meaning 'long plait or pigtail': variant of QUEUE" I never realized the pool cue had the same origin. >>>>> can you help me revise the language >>>>> [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] >QUEUE" > I never realized the pool cue had the same origin. It's interesting that COD10 marks your cue2 as archaic. Ny father was not an educated man but 'cue' or 'queue' (pronounced the same in my dialect) was his standard word for the sort of pigtail worn by Chinese men, so I expect that he grew up with that word as standard. He was born in 1899, and if that's archaic then tempus fugits even faster than I had thought possible. SignatureRobin (BrE) Herts, England >>>>>> can you help me revise the language >>>>>> [quoted text clipped - 47 lines] > born in 1899, and if that's archaic then tempus fugits even faster > than I had thought possible. Once I learned that that was the name for the "pigtail" for Chinese men, I chose to use it in lieu. "Pigtail" for a sedate and dignified man's hairdo was just out of place. My sisters' pigtails were like 2 shorter and perkier "pony tails", and stuck out from both sides of their heads. |
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