How to interpret this sentence

Question

Her greatest concerns were for the abusive relationships that punctuated her mother's skirts with the law.

1. Does "with the law" refer to the police?
2. What does "punctuate her skirts" mean in this sentence?
3. Does the mother of author suffer from the abusive relationships or inflict pains on others in these relationships?

Thanks.
Candy

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Her greatest concerns were for the abusive relationships that her mother was involved in between her [skirts / run-ins / scrapes / brushes / entanglements / troublesome interactions] with the police.

1. Does "with the law" refer to the police? Yes.

2. What does "punctuate her skirts" mean in this sentence? See above. skirts means 'periodic episodes of trouble' in this context -- not articles of clothing. As you see, I have given you a few synonyms to help you understand the meaning. The reference to punctuation is mainly to the fact that punctuation marks are scattered thoughout texts, more or less 'sprinkled about' among the words. So the mother had sporadic troubles with the police; you might say her life was characterized by occasional troubles of that kind.

3. Does the mother of author suffer from the abusive relationships or inflict pains on others in these relationships? She suffers from the abusive relationships. (She may also, as a result of those relationships, inflict pains on others, but that is not explicitly said in that sentence.)

CJ

Candy Chiu · Answer

CJ,

Thanks for your help. If I strip away the adjectival and adverbial phrases, the sentence becomes:

"Her concerns were for the relationships that punctuated skirts."

Replace skirts with troublesome interactions:

"Her concerns were for the relationships that punctuated troublesome interactions."

I take this as troublesome interactions punctuated by relationships. That means relationships are shorter in duration than troublesome interactions?

"that punctuated her mother's skirts with the law" modifies "relationships". Her mother was in relationships that occasionally get her into trouble with the police. And the author concerned about the abusive relationships, not about the interactions with the police? Perhaps her mother would stay out of trouble if she quit the abusive relationships.

I am confused.

Candy

CalifJim · Answer

Candy ChiuI take this as troublesome interactions punctuated by relationships. That means relationships are shorter in duration than troublesome interactions?

Yes, if you take the sentence absolutely literally.

However, the original sentence itself is a bit troublesome in this regard. I'm afraid that the author may have written it one way while meaning it the other way. It was probably meant to be "that were punctuated by skirts with the law".

Candy Chiu"that punctuated her mother's skirts with the law" modifies "relationships". Her mother was in relationships that occasionally get her into trouble with the police.

No. There is no causal connection here. The relationships merely alternated with the trouble with the police. Abusive relationship, trouble with the law, abusive relationship, trouble with the law, abusive relationship, ... Nothing in the sentence claims that the abusive relationships actually cause the trouble with the law.

Candy Chiuthe author was concerned about the abusive relationships, not about the interactions with the police?

She may have been concerned about both, but this sentence focuses on the abusive relationships as the more important concern.

Candy ChiuI am confused.

That's not surprising. It's a difficult sentence.

CJ

Candy Chiu · Answer

Hi, CJ,

I looked up "skirts" in the american heritage, the m-w (learner's), the longman, and the oxford dictionary. None of the explanations came closed to "troublesome interactions". Without your help, I stand no chance in figuring out the meaning of the sentence on my own.

Are there any reference sources that may help in this situation?

Thanks.
Candy

CalifJim · Answer

Candy ChiuAre there any reference sources that may help in this situation?

No. Not in this particular case. Sorry.

If you Google "skirts with the law", you'll find a few examples, but not many. The problem is that people use "skirt" (maybe even incorrectly) to mean something like "skirmish". If you look up "skirmish" in the dictionary, you'll get a better idea of what "skirts with the law" are. They are, in an approximate way, "skirmishes with the law".

CJ

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