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Park sang joon Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
The analyses of a text #1
The narrator recalls his adolescence.
Mrs. Markleham asks her son-in-law Doctor Strong for some favor.
........................
Mrs. Markleham was so overcome by this generous speech (which, I need not say, she had not at all expected or led up to) that she could only tell the Doctor it was like himself, and go several times through that operation of kissing the sticks of her fan, and then tapping his hand with it. After which she gently chide her daughter Annie, for not being more demonstrative when such kindness were showered, for her sake, on her old playfellow, and entertained us with some particulars concerning other deserving members of her family, whom it was desirable to set on their deserving legs.
[David Copperfield by Charles Dickens]
I'd like to know "lead up to" means "come to" here.
And I'd like to know what "deserving legs" means.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Mrs. Markleham asks her son-in-law Doctor Strong for some favor.
........................
Mrs. Markleham was so overcome by this generous speech (which, I need not say, she had not at all expected or led up to) that she could only tell the Doctor it was like himself, and go several times through that operation of kissing the sticks of her fan, and then tapping his hand with it. After which she gently chide her daughter Annie, for not being more demonstrative when such kindness were showered, for her sake, on her old playfellow, and entertained us with some particulars concerning other deserving members of her family, whom it was desirable to set on their deserving legs.
[David Copperfield by Charles Dickens]
I'd like to know "lead up to" means "come to" here.
And I'd like to know what "deserving legs" means.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Top answer
Without more context, this apparently means that Mrs. Markleham had done nothing to lead up to (that is, generate, cause, stimulate) the generous speech by Dr. Strong.
- Without more context, this apparently means that Mrs.
- Markleham had done nothing to lead up to (that is, generate, cause, stimulate) the generous speech by Dr.
- Strong.
- The second one apparently means that others in the family deserved to be praised as much as Dr.
- Strong.
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2 Answers
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Without more context, this apparently means that Mrs. Markleham had done nothing to lead up to (that is, generate, cause, stimulate) the generous speech by Dr. Strong.
The second one apparently means that others in the family deserved to be praised as much as Dr. Strong.
The second one apparently means that others in the family deserved to be praised as much as Dr. Strong.
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Hi
To 'lead up to' something means that, in some way, you have introduced a subject into a conversation in a quiet way
If you owe me money and I say 'Hi! You know what, I'm really short of cash these days ...' then you might guess that I am leading up to the subject of when you are going to pay me back!
In the Dickens paragraph, Mrs Markleham is saying that she didn't d
To 'lead up to' something means that, in some way, you have introduced a subject into a conversation in a quiet way
If you owe me money and I say 'Hi! You know what, I'm really short of cash these days ...' then you might guess that I am leading up to the subject of when you are going to pay me back!
In the Dickens paragraph, Mrs Markleham is saying that she didn't d
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