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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Vocabulary
In and of itself
"The meaning of the call
[The president-elect upset almost 40 years of US practice in the region by taking a call from the Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen.]
So what was it about? In and of itself, the call is not a policy shift.
The One China agreement doesn't specifically prohibit contact between American and Taiwanese leaders, although past US presidents have refrained from picking up the phone so as not to upset China."
(BBC News website.)
I understand the wording "in itself" but I'm struggling to catch up with the meaning "of itself" in phrase "In and of itself" in the above. Does "of itself" mean "about itself" in such a context?
[The president-elect upset almost 40 years of US practice in the region by taking a call from the Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen.]
So what was it about? In and of itself, the call is not a policy shift.
The One China agreement doesn't specifically prohibit contact between American and Taiwanese leaders, although past US presidents have refrained from picking up the phone so as not to upset China."
(BBC News website.)
I understand the wording "in itself" but I'm struggling to catch up with the meaning "of itself" in phrase "In and of itself" in the above. Does "of itself" mean "about itself" in such a context?
Top answer
This is a pat phrase, a fancy way of talking, which is used all the time. Don't try to analyze it. " Mary's kissing Frank on the check does not, in and of itself, mean that she wants to marry him.
- This is a pat phrase, a fancy way of talking, which is used all the time.
- Don't try to analyze it.
- " Mary's kissing Frank on the check does not, in and of itself, mean that she wants to marry him.
- It only means that she likes him.
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3 Answers
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This is a pat phrase, a fancy way of talking, which is used all the time. Don't try to analyze it. If we wanted to be more grammatically exact, we could just say "by itself."
Mary's kissing Frank on the check does not, in and of itself, mean that she wants to marry him. It only means that she likes him.
Mary's kissing Frank on the check does not, in and of itself, mean that she wants to marry him. It only means that she likes him.
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The set phrase is in some dictionaries as "intrinsically," "as such", "with respect to its intrinsic nature."
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/in+and+of+itself
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/in-and-of-i
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/in+and+of+itself
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/in-and-of-i
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