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Taka Posted 21 years ago
What exactly does 'an abstraction' mean in this sentence??
Grammar
Abstraction
If we eliminate the social factor from the child we are left only with an abstraction ; if we eliminate the individual factor from society, we are left only with an inert and lifeless mass.
What exactly does 'an abstraction' mean in this sentence??
Top answer
Hello Taka It seems to be a rhetorical flourish: if we take one child, and extract everything of significance that relates to social factors, we are left with nothing but the mere word 'child'. In other words, a child is little more than a nexus of social factors. The writer obviously hasn't had to clean up after one.
- Hello Taka It seems to be a rhetorical flourish: if we take one child, and extract everything of significance that relates to social factors, we are left with nothing but the mere word 'child'.
- In other words, a child is little more than a nexus of social factors.
- The writer obviously hasn't had to clean up after one.
- MrP
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7 Answers
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Hello Taka
It seems to be a rhetorical flourish: if we take one child, and extract everything of significance that relates to social factors, we are left with nothing but the mere word 'child'.
In other words, a child is little more than a nexus of social factors.
The writer obviously hasn't had to clean up after one.
MrP
It seems to be a rhetorical flourish: if we take one child, and extract everything of significance that relates to social factors, we are left with nothing but the mere word 'child'.
In other words, a child is little more than a nexus of social factors.
The writer obviously hasn't had to clean up after one.
MrP
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Perfect explanation! Thank you, MrP.
(By the way, what do you mean by 'clean up after one?)
(By the way, what do you mean by 'clean up after one?)
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'To clean up after someone' = 'to clean up the mess someone has left behind'!
MrP
MrP
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Sorry, I should have paraphrased:
'The writer obviously hasn't had to clean up after one!' =
'If the writer thinks that once you have eliminated the social factors from a child, you are left with an abstraction, he has clearly never had to clean up the (regrettably non-abstract) mess that a child leaves behind!'
(I was thinking particularly of this unhappy combinatio
'The writer obviously hasn't had to clean up after one!' =
'If the writer thinks that once you have eliminated the social factors from a child, you are left with an abstraction, he has clearly never had to clean up the (regrettably non-abstract) mess that a child leaves behind!'
(I was thinking particularly of this unhappy combinatio
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You don't have to be sorry about it at all, MrP. It's just, I'm not still good at well-turned phrases in English.
Seems like there are still many things for me to learn.
Anyway, now I understand your nice words.
Thank you very much, MrP!
Seems like there are still many things for me to learn.
Anyway, now I understand your nice words.
Thank you very much, MrP!
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