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Sat 11 Dec, 2010 04:17 am
For me, being fat -- and, yes, I use the f-word because early on I decided honesty was the best policy -- was not a victimless crime. With a husband and eight children still at home I was certainly not the wife and mother I could have/would have/should have been. As the excess inches peeled off, so did my denial.
What does the last sentence mean here?
It means that as she began to lose significant amounts of weight, as she began to lose enough weight that is made a noticeable difference in her appearance, she ceased to deny that she was fat.
In the English language, there is a locution of recent date which is "in denial." It means someone who will not face up to the fact of a problem which they have, which everyone else is able to see--someone who denies that they have a problem. In this case, the woman's "denial" was an unwillingness to acknowledge that she was fat.
@Setanta,
Setanta wrote:
It means that as she began to lose significant amounts of weight, as she began to lose enough weight that is made a noticeable difference in her appearance, she ceased to deny that she was fat.
In the English language, there is a locution of recent date which is "in denial." It means someone who will not face up to the fact of a problem which they have, which everyone else is able to see--someone who denies that they have a problem. In this case, the woman's "denial" was an unwillingness to acknowledge that she was fat.
No; the denial was in reference to not being a good wife an mother... She probably could not keep up, and let a lot of things go besides her appearance....It referes to the previous sentence.
@Fido,
Although I read it the same way as Set at first, I think you're right. "Not a victimless crime" was a pretty big clue too, and one that I skipped over.
@Joeblow,
Best to look at paragraphs as whole contructions, with complimentary meanings.
It could have also applied to paragraph's following the phrasing. There could have been any number of explanations that explained what she had been denying. Unhappiness in her marriage, etc...I would think that was a perfect lead in to explain in detail what she meant. Unless there was nothing to follow - then I would think that Fido and Joeblow's explanation fits better.
But I like Set a lot.
Given that she attributes her failure as wife and mother to being fat, i'd say what we have here is a classic case of nit-picking. Of course, i've never had lice, so i lack the experience to assert that to a certainty. I do know that Fido is mostly an idiot, who particularly enjoys disagreeing with people, without regard to whether or not there is a good reason. I told him long ago that as he is an idiot, i would prefer that he not respond to my posts.
@Setanta,
When an idiot calls you an idiot it is a complement and not an insult; so thank you... I've never had lice several times, and I never want them again...
@Setanta,
Quote:i'd say what we have here is a classic case of nit-picking.
Or a textbook example of that "recent" locution, 'in denial'.
She is saying that she was in denial that being fat was a victimless crime.
@PUNKEY,
PUNKEY wrote:
She is saying that she was in denial that being fat was a victimless crime.
It is not a crime at all, but it is bound to affect ones relationships which is the meaning behind the metaphore...
@PennyChan,
PennyChan wrote:
For me, being fat -- and, yes, I use the f-word because early on I decided honesty was the best policy -- was not a victimless crime. With a husband and eight children still at home I was certainly not the wife and mother I could have/would have/should have been. As the excess inches peeled off, so did my denial.
What does the last sentence mean here?
For your purposes, it may be enough to simply explain that the last sentence means that as she lost weight she had reason to stop lying to herself about something.
What she was previously lying about might either have been that she wasn't fat or that she was a good mother and wife. I agree with those who have suggested the latter: being a good mother and wife, and I don't think the two are one and the same, but would need to see more that this one brief excerpt to be confident I was right.
@Finn dAbuzz,
Quote:For your purposes, it may be enough to simply explain that the last sentence means that as she lost weight she had reason to stop lying to herself about something.
You say that you don't like sloppy writing or movie making, Finn, yet you seem content to express sloppy ideas?
EFLs can't breeze over an article or a problem they encounter with understanding a part of an article because what they are trying to do is gain an understanding of how the grammar of English works.
@JTT,
JTT wrote:
Quote:For your purposes, it may be enough to simply explain that the last sentence means that as she lost weight she had reason to stop lying to herself about something.
You say that you don't like sloppy writing or movie making, Finn, yet you seem content to express sloppy ideas?
EFLs can't breeze over an article or a problem they encounter with understanding a part of an article because what they are trying to do is gain an understanding of how the grammar of English works.
Yes... Consider in your writing that paragraphs contain directly related ideas, and articles are made up of supporting related ideas.
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