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I'm reading an essay by Rusking "Sesame and Lillies" . He uses the word "smatch" in a way I do not understand.
" We may intrude ten minutes’ talk on a cabinet minister, answered probably with words worse than silence, being deceptive; or snatch, once or twice in our lives, the privilege of throwing a bouquet in the path of a Princess, or arresting the kind glance of a Queen. "
Comments, please.
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Ruskin has a very fine reputation, but this sentence strikes me as objectionable smbbery. "An ordinarily clever and sensible seaman will be able to make his way ashore at most ports; yet he has only to speak a sentence of any language to be known for an illiterate person: so also the accent, or turn of expression of a single sentence, will at once mark a scholar. And this is so strongly felt, so conclusively admitted by educated persons, that a false accent or a mistaken syllable is enough, in the parliament of any civilized nation, to assign to a man a certain degree of inferior standing forever."
Again, comments,please.
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I don't see the difficulty Dr. Bill. My dictionary's first definition for snatch is "grasp quickly, eagerly, or unexpectedly."
A rare privilege is something to be grasped eagerly, is it not? Sure, it's a metaphorical grasping rather than a literal, physical one, but it makes perfect sense to me.
Bingley
Bingley
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As for the Ruskin quote, it was a pretty widespread opinion in his day, and I don't know enough about him to say whether he shared it or was just reporting the common belief. But similar attitudes persist among prescriptivist grammarians with their contempt for what they condemn as illiteracies etc., although they wouldn't express it in quite the same way.
Bingley
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Dear Bingley: After reading your post about "snatch", I re-read the quote, and discovered I had mistaken the semi-colon for a comma. Makes a big difference.
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In reply to:
or a mistaken syllable
That's enough to make a mute out of a cowardly soul.
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