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Red park 287 Posted 8 years ago
Grammar

He still knew how to pray

The transit marshal took the man off. Hands up, clasped together like he still knew how to pray.

What does writer mean by he still knew how to pray?

  

Top answer

People put their hands together with bent elbows to pray. The writer fails to paint the picture. "Hands up" by itself means "with the hands held apart higher than the shoulders", but the writer seems to be saying that the man's hands were in a position typical of praying, held together close in front of the chest.

  • People put their hands together with bent elbows to pray.
  • The writer fails to paint the picture.
  • "Hands up" by itself means "with the hands held apart higher than the shoulders", but the writer seems to be saying that the man's hands were in a position typical of praying, held together close in front of the chest.
  • What the writer meant by "still knew how" cannot be determined from that single sentence, but I imagine the man was a criminal and so not very religious.
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2 Answers
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People put their hands together with bent elbows to pray. The writer fails to paint the picture. "Hands up" by itself means "with the hands held apart higher than the shoulders", but the writer seems to be saying that the man's hands were in a position typical of praying, held together close in front of the chest. What the writer meant by "still knew how" cannot be determined from that single

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The position of his hands was the same as when one prays.

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