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Park sang joon Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Chance remarks

Now the protagonist Philip is an obstetric clerk

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The great difficulty was to keep the mothers in bed for ten days, which was the minimum upon which the hospital practice insisted. It was awkward to look after the family, no one would see to the children without payment, and the husband tumbled because his tea was not right when he came home tired from his work and hungry. Philip had heard that the poor helped one another, but woman after woman complained to him that she could not get anyone in to clean up and see to the children's dinner without paying for the service, and she could not afford to pay. By listening to the women as they talked and by chance remarks from which he could deduce much that was left unsaid, Philip learned how little there was in common between the poor and the classes above them.
[Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham]
I think "what they talked about" is the same as "chance remarks."
If so, I don't think "by chance remarks" is reasonable here, or if not, I'd like to know what "chance remarks" means.
Thank you in advance for your help.
  

Top answer

" Both phrases relate to conversations between the women. Yes. park sang joon what "chance remarks" means Those are remarks which occur randomly in a conversation.

  • " Both phrases relate to conversations between the women.
  • Yes.
  • park sang joon what "chance remarks" means Those are remarks which occur randomly in a conversation.
  • These are usually remarks on tangential matters rather than on the main topic of the conversation, but sometimes these apparently insignificant off-topic remarks reveal more than they seem to at first.
  • CJ
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1 Answers
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park sang joonI think "what they talked about" is the same as "chance remarks."
Both phrases relate to conversations between the women. Yes.
park sang joonwhat "chance remarks" means
Those are remarks which occur randomly in a conversation. These are usually remarks on tangential matters rather than on the main topic of the

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