Some quotes

Question

1.Jack was the English teacher and the guidance consellor.
There were some very important people in the school at that time, such as Donald Moxham, the History teacher, who seemed to see the lives that they were entrusted with as having some value that they could nurture. Jack was one of those people and I liked him - more than liked him, I trusted him and so I went in. By all accounts I talked for hours and hours. It was like nine to five. It just went on and on and on.

--- Is Donald trying to say that we were given lives which are very valuable and we should cherish them and that Jack was the one who was of the same opinion and that's why the author says that he liked him. However I'm not sure what he means by "I went in" maybe he walked into his office, because Jack was a counselor and the author was a schoolboy. I also don't understand "nine to five" is he talking about the time (4.51)????

2.The reason for this dual identity was mainly to be understood by my peers, but also to be accepted.

---Is the author trying to say that his peers, first of all, had to understand his dual identity and then accept it????

3.But my parents had spent some time in Northern Ireland in the early fifties while my father was doing his National Service, stationed in Eglington, attached to the navy Fleet Air Arm, and they had a really great time.

----OK, his father was stationed in Eglington, but I'm not sure what he means by saying that "attached to the navy...." Does it mean that Eglington belonged to the navy Fleet Air Arm, it was their property???

He eventually built a pretty good electric guitar from scratch with Larry X, a friend from down the road, following......

--- "a friend from down the road means" that he lived on the same street or on the street not far away from my street????

Thanks gyus!

Avangi · Accepted Answer

1. You have it exactly right. It seemed to the author as if he spent all his time in the counciling office. "Nine to five" is an expression like "24 - 7." (Actually, those are bankers' hours, not the hours of a typical school day, which would be more like eight to three-thirty. (Nine to five is nine in the morning until five in the afternoon. It's a common expression in the US - "How's your job going? (reply) "Oh, you know - same old grind, nine to five.") Daytime factory hours might be seven to three-thirty.

2. Without further context, I'd guess he did not naturally fit in with some group he was required to regularly associate with. Therefore, he assumed a second personality to use when he was with these people - one which they could understand and accept. (Just a guess.)

3. It describes the nature of his father's service. He was stationed and attached - stationed in X, and attached to Y.

4. In this case, I'd take it as "on the same street, not too far away." If he said, "a friend from just down the street," that would lock it in. But "down the road" is involved in other expressions, and is often used figuratively. I can't be 100% sure.

Best wishes, - A.

Newguest · Answer

Hi

Thanks for the reply Avangi.

I'll give you more context to my second question:

Growing up I had two different accents, one I would use to communicate with my family, a soft Welsh lilt, the other for my friends, featuring the elements of my Welsh accent I could do nothing about, mixed with my best approximation of the local Irish accent. The reason for this dual identity was mainly to be understood by my peers, but also to be accepted.

--- Well, in my view he's saying that, first of all, these were his peers who had to understand that duality in him, but even more, they had to accept it. Agree?

I have one more question, by the way:

I was twelve or thirteen by then, and our record collection had expanded to include some 45's by Slade and Alice Cooper.

--- I'm not sure what he means by saying "45's" Is it a year or a number of songs???

Thanks

Avangi · Answer

Easy one first. when I was young we had breakable 10-inch 78-rpm disks, some of which were recorded on only one side. They added 12-inch disks, then LP's (long-playing) disks at 33-1/3 rpm, carrying perhaps ten popular cuts on a disk. Next, they added 45's (45-rpm disks) which had one pop tune on each side, like the old 78's, but were small in diameter, and good for the new style juke boxes. The rest is history.

Re the dual identity, I'll grant you that "to be understood by my peers" is ambiguous, because it's not clear what the subject is. That's the neat thing about the passive voice. You can't pin down who gets the blame.

I think you're reading it this way: "My peers understood the reason for this dual identity. They also accepted it." IMHO, this is not correct, although I agree the language may be interpreted that way.

I read it this way: "The purpose which I had in assuming this [secret] dual identity was two-fold. 1. My friends would not be able to understand my language if I spoke to them in the same way I spoke to my family. We would have difficulty in communicating. 2. My friends would think I was weird if I spoke to them the way I spoke to my family. But if I used the same accent my friends used, then I would be more readily accepted as a member of the group.

If the sentence structure used the active infinitive instead of the passive infinitive it would be easier to parse. "The reason was to understand X." vs "The reason was to be understood by X."

- A.

Newguest · Answer

Now everything's clear Avangi. Thank you very much!!!

Some quotes

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions