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Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2006As he mustered its modest front ...
Hello: I've no idea what "mustered" means here. It seems to be a less common usage. ------- Madame Olenska's own dwelling was redeemed from the same appearance only by a little more paint about the window-frames; and as Archer mustered its modest front he said to himself that the Polish Count must have robbed her of her fortune as well as of her illusions. The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton, p. 75 http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/Wharton/age/age9.html ------- Could it be "looked at, viewed, grasped?" Thank you. Marius Hancu >Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > >Could it be "looked at, viewed, grasped?" I think so. I'd read it as figurative use for he reviewed it as though it was a row of troops.  SignatureOn-line canal route planner: http://www.canalplan.org.uk (Waterways World site of the month, April 2001) My Reply-To address *is* valid, though likely to die soon >>Hello: >> [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > I think so. I'd read it as figurative use for he reviewed it as though > it was a row of troops. inspected, examined? SignatureLes Marius Hancu <NOSPAM@videotron.ca> had it: > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > mustered its modest front he said to himself that the Polish Count > must have robbed her of her fortune as well as of her illusions. It is an unknown meaning to me, but I think it must be the same as "took in", that is, he reviewed the entirety of it. SignatureDavid ===== > Marius Hancu <NOSPAM@videotron.ca> had it: > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > It is an unknown meaning to me, but I think it must be the same as > "took in", that is, he reviewed the entirety of it. How Marius exposes the gaps in my reading! I had to go to OED for this one, and found only one example, marked as both obsolete and rare: < 6. trans. To pass in review, to take stock of. Obs. rare. a1640 J. FLETCHER & P. MASSINGER Custome of Countrey V. v, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Cc4/2, With what a greedy hawkes eye she beholds me? Marke how she musters all my parts.> Why not send the example to OED, Marius? Note that in the Navy "to muster one's kit" is slang for "to vomit". SignatureMike. > I had to go to OED for this > one, and found only one example, marked as both obsolete and rare: [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Cc4/2, With what a > greedy hawkes eye she beholds me? Marke how she musters all my parts.> Thanks. > Why not send the example to OED, Marius? I am not a subscriber, you seem to be one, thus you may have more direct channels to them. Pls feel welcome to do it:-) Thank you all. Marius Hancu >> I had to go to OED for this >> one, and found only one example, marked as both obsolete and rare: [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >I am not a subscriber, you seem to be one, thus you may have more >direct channels to them. Pls feel welcome to do it:-) You don't need to be a subscriber to contribute a quotation to the OED. http://www.oed.com/about/writing/evidence.html Anybody can contribute quotations to the OED, either in writing or online. There are three main types of quotation which are of particular interest: 1. An antedating, i.e. a quotation demonstrating that a word or meaning was in use earlier than had been previously thought 2. A postdating, i.e. an example of a word or meaning written more recently than the latest example in our records 3. A quotation illustrating a new word or meaning http://www.oed.com/readers/research.html How to contribute words to the Reading Programme [lots of information, and an e-mail address for submissions] SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) > >> I had to go to OED for this > >> one, and found only one example, marked as both obsolete and rare: [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > How to contribute words to the Reading Programme > [lots of information, and an e-mail address for submissions] If Jesse Sheidlower still checks periodically for mentions of his name on Usenet, perhaps he'll spot this one, read the thread, and discover the example for himself. What puzzles me is how Wharton came to insert a usage into her prose that hadn't appeared in print (if Oxford is otherwise correct) for more than three centuries. Even if she had round it in the OED, you'd think she'd hesitate to use something that obsolete. SignatureBob Lieblich Enquiring Mind [...] > What puzzles me is how Wharton came to insert a usage into her prose > that hadn't appeared in print (if Oxford is otherwise correct) for > more than three centuries. Even if she had round it in the OED, you'd > think she'd hesitate to use something that obsolete. My speculation is that she may have misunderstood some such expression as "he mustered the regiment, and mighty purty them boys looked, too". There are plenty of uses, such as the rather telescoped "to pass muster", in which "muster" could be mistaken for "inspection". SignatureMike. > My speculation is that she may have misunderstood some such expression > as <...> No offense, but the idea that Edith Wharton would misunderstand a word she was using in her writing is pretty funny. I don't understand what is far-fetched in the assumption that she read old literature and used words and phrases from it that she considered felicitous. > > My speculation is that she may have misunderstood some such expression > > as <...> > > No offense, but the idea that Edith Wharton would misunderstand a word she > was using in her writing is pretty funny. Browning could do it; Wordsworth could do it; Shakespeare could make us understand what might have seemed close to gibberish from a less assured pen; Blake could talk pure nonsense with a straight face. But Edith Wharton couldn't have misunderstood a word? Hell, I misunderstand words myself. > I don't understand what is far-fetched in the assumption that she read old > literature and used words and phrases from it that she considered > felicitous. Well, perhaps she _was_ familiar enough with Fletcher and Massinger to have absorbed what seems to have been the only use of the word in that sense in the entire corpus of English literature. SignatureMike. >> > My speculation is that she may have misunderstood some such expression >> > as <...> [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Edith Wharton couldn't have misunderstood a word? Hell, I misunderstand > words myself. Even you do it? Well then of course Wharton could. But the fact is, it isn't credible that she did. In the first place, she was employing it precisely in a sense in which it already had an established use, and it would have been quite a coincidence if she had happened upon a correct use of the word because she had misunderstood it. In the second, she used it in that meaning in several other works (e.g., "His bulging eyes seemed to muster the details of the scene with a gentle envy." -- _Bunner Sisters_, 1916), and certainly, over the years, someone would have asked her about it if it had been perceived as a misunderstanding. Her circle was large and included numerous literary worthies. Apparently, her contemporaries had a better sense of how words are properly used than contemporary usenet boffins do. So, as I said, the notion is pretty funny. > >> > My speculation is that she may have misunderstood some such expression > >> > as <...> [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Even you do it? Well then of course Wharton could. I'm confident that my active vocabulary is at least as big as hers; given the different types of education we had, mine, and probably yours, is very likely larger. I never claimed to deserve a Pulitzer Prize; and if I had received one it wouldn't have conferred infallibility. > But the fact is, it isn't credible that she did. In the first place, she was > employing it precisely in a sense in which it already had an established [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > So, as I said, the notion is pretty funny. But the point is that it apparently _didn't_ have an established use in that sense, unless OED, roughly her contemporary, had missed some examples. That's entirely possible, of course; but OED was confident enough to mark it not only "rare" but "obsolete" (and its editors did refer to American sources, including _The Century Dictionary_ and its 1909 Supplement)*. I don't know that her circle included many pastoralists, or military people till after she'd started her war work; so, since her meaning is pretty obvious, and her writing was respected, it may quite well have gone unquestioned. Or perhaps have been accepted at face value as a personal idiosyncrasy. *(It's worth noting that OED's entry doesn't seem to be one of its fossils: it's been changed since the first edition, so some work has been done on this meaning.) Note that in this very thread we have some extremely well-read people who are ready to make the leap from "pass muster [noun] " to " ' to muster' can mean 'to inspect' ". As I've already hinted, "pass muster" doesn't essentially mean "successfully undergo inspection": it's a telescoping of ideas, since you may well get inspected once you've been mustered; but you can be mustered for other purposes. And, for that matter, you can be inspected without being mustered. Fine writers can and do make mistakes: I don't see anything very much out of the ordinary about it. My speculation is perfectly reasonable; and, furthermore, it isn't based on what we may or may not suppose persons known or unknown to have said or not said to the author. All you have to do to shoot it down is stop laughing and find another example -- _The Century Dictionary_ may be a promising place to start, since I haven't looked in there. If you find other uses, it will be a contribution to my knowledge; if you don't, I won't find your efforts risible. SignatureMike. > [...] > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > There are plenty of uses, such as the rather telescoped "to pass > muster", in which "muster" could be mistaken for "inspection". It's not a mistake. It's quite normal. I'm beginning to suspect pondiality. "Passing muster" means "passing inspection" and has nothing to do with the "assembling" meaning. SignatureRob Bannister >>>>I had to go to OED for this >>>>one, and found only one example, marked as both obsolete and rare: [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > on Usenet, perhaps he'll spot this one, read the thread, and discover > the example for himself. He popped up only yesterday when Donna mentioned his name. [..] SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) >> You don't need to be a subscriber to contribute a quotation to the >> OED. [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >on Usenet, perhaps he'll spot this one, read the thread, and discover >the example for himself. In general, if you have a quotation that you think is of real use for the OED, it would be much better for you to send it in as discussed above than to mention it here and hope I find it by random ego-surfing. I do try to keep an eye on useful things here but it's best to be sure, and it makes it easier on me too :-) Jesse Sheidlower OED >>Marius Hancu <NOSPAM@videotron.ca> had it: >> [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > one, and found only one example, marked as both obsolete and rare: > < 6. trans. To pass in review, to take stock of. Obs. rare. I can-t believe it's that rare. The noun, as in "to pass muster" is common enough. SignatureRob Bannister >> How Marius exposes the gaps in my reading! I had to go to OED for >> this one, and found only one example, marked as both obsolete and >> rare: < 6. trans. To pass in review, to take stock of. Obs. rare. > > I can-t believe it's that rare. The noun, as in "to pass muster" is > common enough. The military muster is still current, I would have thought. Idle thought: perhaps "pass muster" has mutated into "cut the mustard" in some minds. SignaturePeter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org Please note the changed e-mail and web addresses. The domain eepjm.newcastle.edu.au no longer exists, and I can no longer receive mail at my newcastle.edu.au addresses. The optusnet address could disappear at any time. >>> How Marius exposes the gaps in my reading! I had to go to OED for >>> this one, and found only one example, marked as both obsolete and [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Idle thought: perhaps "pass muster" has mutated into "cut the mustard" > in some minds. In fact, the primary meaning of muster, for me, is inspect. It took me a while to get used to the Australian use of muster, as in mustering sheep, cattle, goats, etc. I thought they were looking at them. SignatureRob Bannister > In fact, the primary meaning of muster, for me, is inspect. It took > me a while to get used to the Australian use of muster, as in > mustering sheep, cattle, goats, etc. I thought they were looking at > them. There's a connection. One of the purposes of mustering livestock is to get them all into one place so that you check whether any are missing. SignaturePeter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org Please note the changed e-mail and web addresses. The domain eepjm.newcastle.edu.au no longer exists, and I can no longer receive mail at my newcastle.edu.au addresses. The optusnet address could disappear at any time. >> In fact, the primary meaning of muster, for me, is inspect. It took >> me a while to get used to the Australian use of muster, as in [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > There's a connection. One of the purposes of mustering livestock is to > get them all into one place so that you check whether any are missing. How many times have been told "Count the legs and divide by four"! SignatureRob Bannister >>> In fact, the primary meaning of muster, for me, is inspect. It >>> took me a while to get used to the Australian use of muster, as [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >> > How many times have been told "Count the legs and divide by four"! As somebody (Evan?) has often told us, most sheep and cows have more than the average number of legs. Besides, with a pig that good you don't eat it all at once. SignaturePeter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org Please note the changed e-mail and web addresses. The domain eepjm.newcastle.edu.au no longer exists, and I can no longer receive mail at my newcastle.edu.au addresses. The optusnet address could disappear at any time. |
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