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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2009Delivered himself of
Hello: Do I have the right impression that the "himself of" part in "delivered himself of" is obsolete today? -------- And the handsome Lauro delivered himself of rolling, ranting, intolerably bombastic phrases, also in French ... The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, Tr. Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter, p. 312 -------- Thanks. Marius Hancu >Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >"delivered himself of" >is obsolete today? Yes, or, more cautiously, almost. >-------- >And the handsome Lauro delivered himself of rolling, ranting, [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >Thanks. >Marius Hancu  SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) On Jan 3, 5:15 am, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> wrote: > >Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >And the handsome Lauro delivered himself of rolling, ranting, > >intolerably bombastic phrases, also in French ... Thank you. Marius Hancu >>> Do I have the right impression that the "himself of" part >>> in "delivered himself of" is obsolete today? >> Yes, or, more cautiously, almost. >>> And the handsome Lauro delivered himself of rolling, ranting, >>> intolerably bombastic phrases, also in French ... I find myself defending this translator. To deliver phrases is to speak them. To deliver yourself of them carries the connotation of unburdening yourself. Etymology strikes again, in the sense that to deliver something is to free it. As Peter says, "almost". I also think that "of" serves a useful purpose in "feel of". More than simple touch, but also more than simple perception. When they were messing with the patient's pleura, he could feel the thing and they could feel it too; but only they were fondling and probing and palping it. Feeling of it. I agree that the pattern is one to be careful of, since it's used as a substitute for the verb--direct-object pattern in non-standard English, at least in novels set in the Victorian era. Don't'ee go a-trustin' of the bankers, Marster, for there ain't no good in 'em. The above sheds a faintly interesting light on a suggestion I made a little while ago, that the folding of the participial ending ("-and") into what was originally only the gerund ending ("-ing") came about through the use of a prepositional phrase for the participial construction. Don't'ee go on (the) trusting of 'em. > >>> Do I have the right impression that the "himself of" part > >>> in "delivered himself of" is obsolete today? > >> Yes, or, more cautiously, almost. > >>> And the handsome Lauro delivered himself of rolling, ranting, > >>> intolerably bombastic phrases, also in French ... > > I find myself defending this translator. To deliver phrases is to > speak them. To deliver yourself of them carries the connotation of > unburdening yourself. OK, that's an interesting angle. I see it. Perhaps the close-to- moribund Lauro was waiting for the occasion of unburdening himself of all that load of discourse in him:-) > I also think that "of" serves a useful purpose in "feel of". More > than simple touch, but also more than simple perception. When they > were messing with the patient's pleura, he could feel the thing and > they could feel it too; but only they were fondling and probing and > palping it. Feeling of it. How would you put "Feeling of it" in other words ? Just trying to see if I'm on the ball here:-) On the other side, I'd perfectly understand a surgeon saying: "OK, I grabbed it. I have the feel of it." ("it" being the pleura). > I agree that the pattern is one to be careful of, since it's used as a > substitute for the verb--direct-object pattern in non-standard > English, at least in novels set in the Victorian era. Don't'ee go > a-trustin' of the bankers, Marster, for there ain't no good in 'em. No problem to translate this one:-) Thanks. Marius Hancu [not anything that should be felt of] >> I also think that "of" serves a useful purpose in "feel of". More >> than simple touch, but also more than simple perception. When they >> were messing with the patient's pleura, he could feel the thing and >> they could feel it too; but only they were fondling and probing and >> palping it. Feeling of it. > How would you put "Feeling of it" > in other words? > Just trying to see if I'm on the ball here:-) Good question. "Groping it"? "Handling it"? OneLook's quick definitions has "grope or feel in search of something" under 'feel", but I suppose that's "feeling for", or maybe "feeling out of sight". The clue may be in the meaning of "of" here. OneLook Merriam-Webster has "[4]*b* -- used as a function word to indicate a whole or quantity from which a part is removed or expended <gave of his time>", and that's the one, of those I've seen, that feels the closest; as Iain said early on, it resembles the "of" of "drink of the cup", (as I see it) in being closer to "from" than many other uses of "of". If "feeling" something is perceiving it, then maybe "feeling of" it is taking that perception from it, taking the feel of it. Emphasis is laid on the act rather than the perception. [...] >>Hello: >> [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >> > Yes, or, more cautiously, almost. In this context now pretty rare except as an ironic or slightly mocking phrase. However, it is still common in BrE in 'she was delivered of a baby boy'. That's perhaps the only common usage of 'delivered of' still current. Unless someone else knows better? |
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