Keep company

0 Not especially, but you'd better wait for a native! 0-

0 Not for me it doesn't. 02br
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00Unless it is said with a leer and a wink by a gossip perhaps: 'I see John was keeping Mary company again last night!' 0-

0 Yes of course, but thanks, Nona! 0-

0 Right, now it's clear. 02br
00Thanks ! 0-

0 It can have the same meaning as "courting", depending upon the era the phrase was written. In the 1920's - 50's for eaxmple. 0-

0 Abbie, the phrase was written in the 1920s 0-

0 Then I imagine that a couple was "courting". 02br
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00"keeping company" would probably have been used by or about people of a lower class, perhaps servants, farmers etc. 0-

0 I just wanted to point out that "keeping company," (meaning "courting" as Abbie explained above), is different from "to keep someone company" or "keeping someone company," which just means to stay with someone so they won't be lonely. (For example, "I'm going to wash the dishes. Do you want to do your homeowork here in the kitchen and keep me company?") 0-