 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion GroupsEnglish UsageBritish EnglishESL Teaching Learnglish.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010The Saint standing at gaze!
In 'Enter the Saint' by Leslie Charteris, there is a story called 'The Policeman with Wings' with the sentence... "''They might have tidied up after', remarked the Saint mildly, standing at gaze before the disorder." Somebody altered the 'at' to a 'to' so I looked up 'at gaze' in my Concise OED and it's fine - interesting use of English, I thought. Nick from England > In 'Enter the Saint' by Leslie Charteris, there is a story called 'The > Policeman with Wings' with the sentence... [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Somebody altered the 'at' to a 'to' so I looked up 'at gaze' in my > Concise OED and it's fine - interesting use of English, I thought. Yes! I wonder if Lesle Charteris was betraying a dialect? > > In 'Enter the Saint' by Leslie Charteris, there is a story called 'The > > Policeman with Wings' with the sentence... [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Yes! I wonder if Lesle Charteris was betraying a dialect? Don't know - the only time I ever saw him was in a TV ad back in the 60s, IIRC in a pub - don't remember how he spoke but wouldn't be surprised if he was very posh. Nick from England In message <27faa297-fd9b-44d9-a27a-475903c92451@l19g2000yqb.googlegroups.com>, Nick <pacifico@btopenworld.com> writes >> > In 'Enter the Saint' by Leslie Charteris, there is a story called 'The >> > Policeman with Wings' with the sentence... [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >60s, IIRC in a pub - don't remember how he spoke but wouldn't be >surprised if he was very posh. It wasn't, by any chance, meant to be "aghast"? Maybe not. That hardly goes with "remarked" and "mildly".  SignatureIan > > In 'Enter the Saint' by Leslie Charteris, there is a story called 'The > > Policeman with Wings' with the sentence... [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Yes! I wonder if Lesle Charteris was betraying a dialect? <g> It *does* sort of sound what a Yorkie might say. Nick from England >In 'Enter the Saint' by Leslie Charteris, there is a story called 'The >Policeman with Wings' with the sentence... [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >Somebody altered the 'at' to a 'to' so I looked up 'at gaze' in my >Concise OED and it's fine - interesting use of English, I thought. The phrase was completely unknown to me. However, the OED says: b. at gaze, at a or the gaze; said of a deer (now chiefly Her.: see quot. 1828-40), also of persons: in the attitude of gazing, esp. in wonder, expectancy, bewilderment, etc. So in to stand at (a, the) gaze, to set at the gaze, etc. to hold at gaze: to hold fascinated. Also with other preps. as in a gaze, on, upon the gaze; to put to the gaze: to puzzle, nonplus. See also AGAZE. c1430 [see AGAZE]. 1579 LYLY Euphues (Arb.) 78, I haue read..that the whole heard of Deare stand at the gaze, if they smell a sweete apple. 1594 GREENE & LODGE Looking Gl. (1598) A4 Whose eye holds wanton Venus at a gaze. 1603 KNOLLES Hist. Turks (1638) 309 A shepheard..strucken with the majesty of the man, stood at gaze vpon him. .... 1874 FARRAR Christ II. lxi. 407 The great body of the people seem to have stood silently at gaze. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.english.usage) On Feb 24, 8:15 pm, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> wrote: > On Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:28:55 -0800 (PST), Nick > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > -- Thanks, Peter - very interesting. :-) The helpful tyke who thinks he's correcting typos (it's a library book, btw) also keeps altering 'lighted' to 'lit' - 'the Saint lighted a cigarette' is fine - I think the tyke is a small child! Nick >On Feb 24, 8:15 pm, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> >wrote: [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > >Thanks, Peter - very interesting. :-) It reminds me of the military postures "at attention" and "at ease". >The helpful tyke who thinks he's correcting typos (it's a library >book, btw) also keeps altering 'lighted' to 'lit' - 'the Saint lighted >a cigarette' is fine - I think the tyke is a small child! > >Nick SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.english.usage) |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2012 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.