He bowed

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Marius Hancu - 09 May 2009 08:57 GMT

Hello:

Do you think this, the straight meaning, is the meaning of "bowed" in
the quotation:

-----
bow

to bend the head or the body or the knee as an expression of reverence,
submission, or shame
-----

or could it be "bowed to my request, accepted it?"

----
[Widmerpool attempts mediation between two warring tennis players,
Lundquist and Orn, at the boarding house]

'I asked him, accordingly, if I had his permission to speak to Orn on
the same subject.'
'What did he say to that?'
'He bowed.'
'It all sounds very formal.'
'It _was_ very formal,' said Widmerpoool. 'Why should it have been
otherwise?'

A Dance to the Music of Time, Spring, by Anthony Powell, p. 108
----

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Thanks.
Marius Hancu

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CDB - 09 May 2009 13:29 GMT

> Do you think this, the straight meaning, is the meaning of "bowed"
> in the quotation:

> -----
> bow
>
> to bend the head or the body or the knee as an expression of
> reverence, submission, or shame
> -----

> or could it be "bowed to my request, accepted it?"

The former. That's why the response was "It all sounds very formal."
In this case, the bow was made with the upper part of the body only,
perhaps just as a pronounced nod of the head. Scandinavian formality,
as I know it from the Bergman films of my youth..

> ----
> [Widmerpool attempts mediation between two warring tennis players,
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> 'It _was_ very formal,' said Widmerpoool. 'Why should it have been
> otherwise?'

> A Dance to the Music of Time, Spring, by Anthony Powell, p. 108
> ----

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Steve Hayes - 09 May 2009 17:58 GMT

>Hello:
>
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>'It _was_ very formal,' said Widmerpoool. 'Why should it have been
>otherwise?'

I picture him with his right hand across his body and bending his upper body
from the waist to an angle of about 45 degrees from the vertical. If Japanese,
it would be about 90 degrees.

I also picture him with a monocle and a moustache, wearuing a white shirt with
black jacket and a black bow tie.

But he was probably wearing tennis togs.

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Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

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Don Aitken - 09 May 2009 21:28 GMT

>>Hello:
>>
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
>
>But he was probably wearing tennis togs.

The bow, among the British upper classes, was always an inclination of
the head only (the so-called "neck bow"). This is still used when
meeting the Queen, but, I think, is otherwise obsolete. Only servants
and shop assistants bowed from the waist. Powell's characters would
have stuck firmly to this convention.

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Don Aitken
Mail to the From: address is not read.
To email me, substitute "clara.co.uk" for "freeuk.com"

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Paul Wolff - 09 May 2009 23:26 GMT

>On Sat, 09 May 2009 18:59:02 +0200, Steve Hayes
><hayesmstw@hotmail.com> wrote:
[quoted text clipped - 39 lines]
>and shop assistants bowed from the waist. Powell's characters would
>have stuck firmly to this convention.

Lundquist is a Swede, a European, seen as slightly different from the
English. Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot is portrayed similarly. His
bow is a gesture, not of submission, but of assent. By his bow, he
grants the requested permission to Widmerpool. By his bow, Lundquist
makes a concession with less loss of face than by explicit speech.

Signature

Paul

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2009

He bowed