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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Vocabulary
Touching as they did
Hi,
in the book "Parrot and Olivier in America" (Peter Carey) there is the following sentence:
"My thoughts regarding Marianne, touching as they did both politics and philosophy, did not seem appropriate for the occasion."
It seems strange to me, there is "touching as they did". I would expect "touching as they were". Is it an idiom? Does it mean: "Although my thoughts regarding Marianne touched both politics and philosophy...", or something else?
Thanks for your help.
in the book "Parrot and Olivier in America" (Peter Carey) there is the following sentence:
"My thoughts regarding Marianne, touching as they did both politics and philosophy, did not seem appropriate for the occasion."
It seems strange to me, there is "touching as they did". I would expect "touching as they were". Is it an idiom? Does it mean: "Although my thoughts regarding Marianne touched both politics and philosophy...", or something else?
Thanks for your help.
Top answer
My thoughts regarding Marianne, touching (= being closely associated with) as they did both politics and philosophy. 'As they did' = as they touched. This is not idiomatic, though touch = to be closely associated with is metaphoric.
- My thoughts regarding Marianne, touching (= being closely associated with) as they did both politics and philosophy.
- 'As they did' = as they touched.
- This is not idiomatic, though touch = to be closely associated with is metaphoric.
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1 Answers
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My thoughts regarding Marianne, touching (= being closely associated with) as they did both politics and philosophy.
'As they did' = as they touched. This is not idiomatic, though touch = to be closely associated with is metaphoric.
'As they did' = as they touched. This is not idiomatic, though touch = to be closely associated with is metaphoric.
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