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Spacewater Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

If anybody isn't too busy,I can use a quick explaination on the sentence below

Dr. Block and his wife lived next door to the Nthertons, and he and his wife, who were so absurd as to be very happy in each other's company, have the benefit of the beautiful yard."

I don't understand the part "who were so absurd as to be very happy in each other's company"
Who were very happy in each other's company? What does it mean by "so absurd as to be "
  

Top answer

com/dictionary/absurd , "absurd" means "ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous". "so absurd as to be very happy in each other's company" means that Dr Block and his wife were very happy in each other's company, and they must have been very absurd people to feel that way. The reason why the writer thinks this is "absurd" is hard to say just from this fragment.

— Mr Wordy

  • com/dictionary/absurd , "absurd" means "ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous".
  • "so absurd as to be very happy in each other's company" means that Dr Block and his wife were very happy in each other's company, and they must have been very absurd people to feel that way.
  • The reason why the writer thinks this is "absurd" is hard to say just from this fragment.
  • Perhaps they seemed an incompatible couple, perhaps they had disagreeable characters, or perhaps the writer is just making a wry observation that husbands and wives usually aren't happy in each other's company.
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3 Answers
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Per http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/absurd , "absurd" means "ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous".

"so absurd as to be very happy in each other's company" means that Dr Block and his wife were very happy in e
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Hi,

A very minor point.

Are you sure you typed the tenses correctly? The grammar seems to need 'had'.

ie . . . lived next door . . . and . . . had have the benefit . . .



Best wishes, Clive
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