poor dears

[GUEST2008]

Hi

A woman who lives in Mrs Motler's boardinghouse says that today she'll go to the library on foot.
However Mrs Motler says:

I’ll take you down this afternoon. I’ve got somebody

coming in to see me this morning; and one of the Poor
Dears is having a visit from her doctor, so Margery must​

be on duty. (Margery was her employee)

Do you think that by "Poor Dears" she refers to one of her employees in this boardinghouse?

So she says that one of her employees is seeing a doctor today and Margery will be on duty?

 

[virus99]

Hi!

Is Poor Dears written in capital letters? Than it could be the name for an institution.

Thinking further this way, Mrs Motler won't be available when the doctor comes to the Poor Dear institution. So Margery must be on duty for the docter to show him around.

 

[GUEST2008]

Yes, it's written in capital letters, but I have a feeling it's not an institution, but probably this is how she refers to one of her employees.

 

[shroob]

Hi

A woman who lives in Mrs Motler's boardinghouse says that today she'll go to the library on foot.
However Mrs Motler says:

I’ll take you down this afternoon. I’ve got somebody

coming in to see me this morning; and one of the Poor
Dears is having a visit from her doctor, so Margery must​

be on duty. (Margery was her employee)

Do you think that by "Poor Dears" she refers to one of her employees in this boardinghouse?

So she says that one of her employees is seeing a doctor today and Margery will be on duty?

Not a teacher only a native.

I'd say you have interpreted it right.

I would say that 'Poor Dears' refers to someone staying or working at the boarding house. Without knowing the fuller context it is hard to say.

In English, 'Poor Dears' is used to refer to someone you are pitying, perhaps because they are ill (hence requiring a visit from a doctor). Is it possible someone who is staying or working in the boarding house is ill?

 

[GUEST2008]

Is it possible someone who is staying or working in the boarding house is ill?

Yes, the woman who wants to go to the library is ill. She has problems with her memory. Why?
Actually it's a strange passage to me.

 

[virus99]

For a better understanding, do we have 6 persons?

A guest (woman1) wants to go to the library.
Mrs Motler owns the boarding house.
An unknown visitor for Mrs Motler, making her absent that morning.
Another guest (woman2) is probably ill. (does she also want to go to the library??)
The doctor who will visit the ill person.
Margery the employee.

* editing: as you can see from the member type - I am a student myself No teacher, no native

 

[GUEST2008]

For a better understanding, do we have 6 persons?

A guest (woman1) wants to go to the library. Yes
Mrs Motler owns the boarding house. Yes
An unknown visitor for Mrs Motler, making her absent that morning. Yes
Another guest (woman2) is probably ill. (does she also want to go to the library??) I suppose so. There were two elderly women in that house.
The doctor who will visit the ill person. I guess so.
Margery the employee. Yes

* editing: as you can see from the member type - I am a student myself No teacher, no native

cheers

 

[Mannysteps]

Not A teacher

Associate the following in bold:

"...and one of the poor dears is having a visit from her doctor, so Margery must be on duty."

So, the "poor dear" is an employee Margery must stay on duty to replace.

M.
​

 

[Mannysteps]

I must add that the speaker is somewhat of a patronizing character.

M.

 

[emsr2d2]

I must add that the speaker is somewhat of a patronizing character.

M.

I should add that the speaker is a somewhat patronising character.

I should add that the speaker is something of a patronising character.

 

[Mannysteps]

Thank you very much emsr 2D2. I shall be more careful in the future. However, I see nothing wrong with "must". Could you please explain what is wrong with that?

Regards,

M.

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you very much emsr 2D2. I shall be more careful in the future. However, I see nothing wrong with "must". Could you please explain what is wrong with that?

Regards,

M.

Apologies. My mistake. I simply say "I should add" far more often and didn't notice that you'd used "must". Yours was fine too.

 

[GUEST2008]

So, the "poor dear" is an employee Margery must stay on duty to replace.​

M.​

I think there was only one employee. That's why I think it refers to one of these two old ladies.

cheers

 

[Mannysteps]

With the due respect emsr 2D2, but, I am somewhat confused. Having checked my dictionaries they all agree that "somewhat" is a synonym of "something". The following example is taken from The American Heritage Dictionary:

"The news was somewhat of a surprise."


Meaning:


"The news was something of a surprise."


From an native speaker, I had the following reply to a thread:

"As a native I can see nothing wrong with, 'The speaker is somewhat of a patronizing character'. However, I would sooner say, 'The speaker is a rather patronizing character'."

Note that my spelling of "patronizing" was also correct.

Regards,


[FONT=&quot]M.
[/FONT]

 

[emsr2d2]

With the due respect emsr 2D2, but, I am somewhat confused. Having checked my dictionaries they all agree that "somewhat" is a synonym of "something". The following example is taken from The American Heritage Dictionary:

"The news was somewhat of a surprise."


Meaning:


"The news was something of a surprise."


From an native speaker, I had the following reply to a thread:

"As a native I can see nothing wrong with, 'The speaker is somewhat of a patronizing character'. However, I would sooner say, 'The speaker is a rather patronizing character'."

Note that my spelling of "patronizing" was also correct.

Regards,


[FONT=&quot]M.
[/FONT]

"Patronizing" is quite correct - in AmE. However, I'm a BrE speaker and will always spell it the BrE way "patronising".

As far as the "somewhat of a" question goes, I'll stand corrected though I'll stick with saying that I personally would never use "somewhat" with "of a".

 

[Mannysteps]

Once again, thank you emsr2d2 and my respect for standing corrected. But I believe in each one choosing their own style as a good thing. After all English is now a world language, not confined to British English. Vive la différance! So they say.

Sincere regards,

M.

 

[5jj]

Having checked my dictionaries they all agree that "somewhat" is a synonym of "something".

My feelings about 'somewhat of a ..' are the same as emsr2d2's. The COD calls it archaic.

This may be a BrE/AmE difference.

The American corpus COCA gives 516 citations for 'somewhat of a...' and 3163 for 'something of a ...', roughly 1:6.

The British National Corpus gives only 33 citations for 'somewhat of a...' and 1167 for 'something of a ...', roughly 1:35.

 

[Mannysteps]

It just goes to show that it is indeed used, although more in America than in Britain.