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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004shuffle her feet one on top of the other
Will you help me understand the following sentence? Socorra's voice startled Addie, who squeezed my hand and began to shuffle her foot one on top of the other, back and forth. Did Addie move back and forth by stamping the ground? > Will you help me understand the following sentence? > > Socorra's voice startled Addie, who squeezed my hand and began to > shuffle her foot one on top of the other, back and forth. > > Did Addie move back and forth by stamping the ground? She must be sitting down, and crossing and uncrossing her legs. Gary > masahiko@r5.dion.ne.jp says... >> Will you help me understand the following sentence? >> [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >> > She must be sitting down, and crossing and uncrossing her legs. That sentence gives me no idea at all about what she was doing. What a strange sentence.  SignatureSkitt (in Hayward, California) www.geocities.com/opus731/ > Will you help me understand the following sentence? > > Socorra's voice startled Addie, who squeezed my hand and began to > shuffle her foot one on top of the other, back and forth. > > Did Addie move back and forth by stamping the ground? No, I don't think she moved her whole body anywhere, just her feet. And not hard, which "stamping" would imply. I think it's more of a rubbing motion -- first she put one foot on top of the other one, then slid it off, and slid the other foot on top of the first one. Some sort of absent-minded nervous activity, like fidgeting, like drumming one's fingers on the table, or clasping and unclasping one's hands. SignatureBest -- Donna Richoux >> Will you help me understand the following sentence? >> [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >of the other one, then slid it off, and slid the other foot on top of >the first one. Wouldn't that be shuffling her *feet*? It sound more like she was moving one foot back and forth on top of the other, as if to scratch an itch. Best regards, Spehro Pefhany Signature"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com >>> Will you help me understand the following sentence? >>> [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >moving one foot back and forth on top of the other, as if to scratch >an itch. He spelled it right in the title. -- john > Will you help me understand the following sentence? > > Socorra's voice startled Addie, who squeezed my hand and began to > shuffle her foot one on top of the other, back and forth. > > Did Addie move back and forth by stamping the ground? No, she didn't move anywhere. She lifted one foot and placed it on top of the other one. Then she put the lifted foot back on the ground and moved the other foot on top of the one she'd just put on the ground. And so on. Adrian >>Will you help me understand the following sentence? >> [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Adrian Can I think in your interpretation the meaning of "back and forth" is "alternately"? > >>Will you help me understand the following sentence? > >> [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Can I think in your interpretation the meaning of "back and forth" is > "alternately"? Yes, I agree with Adrian's description, and your interpretation of "back and forth". I find the original sentence unusual, however, as this restless or anxious behavior is usually described as shuffling ones "feet, one on top of the other". << [masahiko] Will you help me understand the following sentence? Socorra's voice startled Addie, who squeezed my hand and began to shuffle her foot one on top of the other, back and forth. Did Addie move back and forth by stamping the ground? [end quote] >> No, not by stamping. "Shuffle" here is unusual; not a word I would use here. I take the passage to mean that she first kept her right foot on the ground and massaged it from above with the left foot for a few seconds; then reversed all this, this time with the left on the ground; all repeated for the duration. -- --------------------------------------------- Richard Maurer To reply, remove half Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ><< [masahiko] >Will you help me understand the following sentence? [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >for a few seconds; then reversed all this, this time >with the left on the ground; all repeated for the duration. I think "shuffle" is fine provided the real sentence reads "feet" and not "foot". To shuffle one's feet is to move or slide them. You can shuffle your feet when walking by sliding them. You can shuffle your feet in a nervous manner when sitting by just moving them. >Will you help me understand the following sentence? > >Socorra's voice startled Addie, who squeezed my hand and began to >shuffle her foot one on top of the other, back and forth. > >Did Addie move back and forth by stamping the ground? I think you're doing it again, Masahiko. Is the above *exactly* what is written in the reference? It's gotta be "feet". You really shouldn't post quotes with blatant typographical errors. It send people chasing false hares. If you shuffle your feet, you move them or slide them. It sounds like Addie is sitting and moving her feet in a nervous manner. She's putting the left foot on top of the right, and then the right on top of the left. ObAue: stamping the ground or stomping the ground? I'd go for "stomping" in this case. A foot is stamped, but the ground is stomped by both feet. I am sorry for my misspelling. The original text should be "foot" not "feet". The subject title was wrong. >>Socorra's voice startled Addie, who squeezed my hand and began to >>shuffle her foot one on top of the other, back and forth. > I am sorry for my misspelling. The original text should be "foot" not > "feet". > The subject title was wrong. > >>> Socorra's voice startled Addie, who squeezed my hand and began to >>> shuffle her foot one on top of the other, back and forth. In that case, I think she must have had one foot on top of the other and was moving it back and forth in the direction between instep and toe. The back and forth probably doesn't mean swapping from one foot to the other. -- Regards John >>I am sorry for my misspelling. The original text should be "foot" not >>"feet". [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Regards > John Do you all agree with Mr. Holme's interpretation? > >>I am sorry for my misspelling. The original text should be "foot" not > >>"feet". [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Do you all agree with Mr. Holme's interpretation? It's a more likely action: rubbing one foot back and forth on top the other one, rather than switching feet. Who knows what the writer was thinking of. But I have sympathy; anyone who's tried writing fiction soon finds how we do *not* have standard ways of describing very common actions. It's hard to convey the right image, while sounding neither too bizarre or too trite. Filmmakers can just *show* someone fidgeting, they don't have to break it down. SignatureBest -- Donna Richoux > I am sorry for my misspelling. The original text should be "foot" not > "feet". > The subject title was wrong. >>> >>> Socorra's voice startled Addie, who squeezed my hand and began to >>> shuffle her foot one on top of the other, back and forth. Was the sentence written by a non-native English speaker? Here's the applicable definition of "shuffle" with regard to the lower limbs: 4 a : to move (as the feet) by sliding along or back and forth without lifting Notice the "without lifting" part. Also, generally it is feet that get shuffled, not a foot. (I put in the "generally" to avoid any attacks for using "never".) SignatureSkitt (in Hayward, California) www.geocities.com/opus731/ |
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