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Wholegrain Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

I do not understand this extract

0 FULL EXTRACT02br
02br
00"To some observers, the singularity, if not lunacy, of the stranger was heightened by his muteness, and, perhaps also, by the contrast to his proceedings afforded in the actions-quite in the wonted and sensible order of things-of the barber of the boat, whose quarters, under a smoking-saloon, and over against a bar-room, was next door but two to the captain's office."02br
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00 I don't understand this extract very well:02br
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00 "(...)of the barber of the boat, whose quarters, under a smoking-saloon, and over against a bar-room, was next door but two to the captain's office."02br
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00I think he meant: "the barber's quarters is under a smoking-saloon and over and against a bar-room and was three doors away from the captain's office."02br
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00However, I don't understand the reasoning behind such unusual formulations as "over against a bar-room" and "was next door but two". To me, they are not grammatically correct. Can you please tell me exactly from what they derive?02br
02br
00 Can you explain why such constructions, that is, "over against a bar-room" and "was next door but two"? 0-
  

Top answer

0 So, you're reading something written 02br 00by Herman Melville in 185702br 00and you're surprised things don't conform to current idiom or grammar? 02br 00Read on050010id1

  • 0 So, you're reading something written 02br 00by Herman Melville in 185702br 00and you're surprised things don't conform to current idiom or grammar?
  • 02br 00Read on050010id1
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5 Answers
0
0 So, you're reading something written 02br
00by Herman Melville in 185702br
00and you're surprised things don't conform to current idiom or grammar? 02br
00Read on050010id1
0
0 I want to write just like him. Do you know where I can learn to do that? But before I can use his constructions, I have to understand the reasoning behind it. Can you provide any help? 0-
0
0To me, "over against a bar-room" and "next door but two" are grammatically (or certainly idiomatically) correct and are not notably unusual.02br
02br
00"over against a bar-room" means "over there (i.e. a little distance away from some notional point of reference), and next to (against) a bar-room".02br
02br
00"next door but two" means, as you say, "three
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0 Please, tell me if I am correct. "Over" in this context means: To another often specified place or position? Moreover, is "next door but two" an elliptical form of "next door but two doors away"? Because to me, in order that "next door but two" make sense, we must allow for an ellipsis. 0-
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0In this context, "over" (in my interpretation) means "situated at another place or position, a little distance away from where the writer's (and reader's) attention is currently focused". It does not need to be "often specified", and there is no real sense of "01i00to02i00 another place". It's similar to the use of "over" in "Let's go to that shop over there", "He's over

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