He was found to possess ...

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Marius Hancu - 13 Jul 2009 03:38 GMT

Hello:

I wonder about the meaning of "found" in "found to possess" here. Does
it simply mean "seen?"

----
[On Widmerpool's strange coat]

Years later, if you questioned his contemporaries on the subject, they
were vague in their answers, and would only laugh and say that he wore
the coat for couple of terms and then, by the time winter came round
again, he was found to possess an overcoat of a more conventional
sort.

Anthony Powell, A Dance to the Music of Time, p. 8
---
--
Thanks.
Marius Hancu

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tony cooper - 13 Jul 2009 04:59 GMT

>Hello:
>
>I wonder about the meaning of "found" in "found to possess" here. Does
>it simply mean "seen?"

I would use "known to possess" if I didn't want to use "found".

>----
>[On Widmerpool's strange coat]
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>Anthony Powell, A Dance to the Music of Time, p. 8
>---

Signature

Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

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Steve Hayes - 13 Jul 2009 07:33 GMT

>Hello:
>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>again, he was found to possess an overcoat of a more conventional
>sort.

His contemporaries discovered that he possessed....

Signature

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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Marius Hancu - 13 Jul 2009 11:09 GMT

> >----
> >[On Widmerpool's strange coat]
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
> His contemporaries discovered that he possessed....

OK, this seems much closer than my version.

--
Thank you both.
Marius Hancu

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Don Phillipson - 13 Jul 2009 12:55 GMT

> I wonder about the meaning of "found" in "found to possess" here. Does
> it simply mean "seen?"
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> Anthony Powell, A Dance to the Music of Time, p. 8

"Found to possess" alludes to the extreme uniformity boys
expected in British boarding schools such as Powell attended.
Any deviation from the norm was noticed (here a style of
clothing) and any deviation was likely to be bullied as a wilful
bid for distinction. (E.g. the fabric specified for best Sunday
suits was changed at my school in 1953: and new boys whose
Sunday suits were of the new fabric were ipso facto persecuted
for looking different from their senior classmates dressed in
the familiar style. This was normal at the time. Similiar sumptuary
prejudice was encountered in the RAF in 1957 when flight
cadets were deprived of the stylish and saucy (but obsolete)
forage caps formerly worn and issued instead shapeless blue
berets, just like any other airmen . . . )

Signature

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

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Marius Hancu - 13 Jul 2009 14:36 GMT

> > I wonder about the meaning of "found" in "found to possess" here. Does
> > it simply mean "seen?"
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> forage caps formerly worn and issued instead shapeless blue
> berets, just like any other airmen . . . )

Thanks for the historical context:-)

Marius Hancu

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / July 2009

He was found to possess ...