return her pencil to her mouth?

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Asha returns her pencil to her mouth and notes, with satisfaction, no one looks disinterested any longer.

Asha was addressing her classmate, and then "returned her pencil to her mouth and notes."

What does it mean?

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Type: Question • Score: 3 • Views: 1,240 • Replies: 12

[+3] - Ceili - 03/26/2011Some people have a tendency to stick a pencil or pen in their mouth when they think, especially during a meeting or class.

View best answer, chosen by Nancy88

pencil to her mouth THEN SEES, with satisfaction, THAT no one looks disinterested any longer.

(She) noted with satisfaction, that no one looks disinterested.....

I question the position of the comma in the original sentence

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@Nancy88,

It is a sexual reference.

The way a woman eats an ice cream cone or a lollipop or has a pencil near or in their mouth can make people think of oral sex. In this case Asha is doing it on purpose to make people pay attention. Clearly she knows what they are thinking.

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@Nancy88,

The punctuation is a little awkward.

Asha returns her pencil to her mouth. (Probably puts it in her mouth thoughtfully, or poking at it -- whatever she was doing before she took it away from her mouth, probably in the previous sentences.)

Then, with her pencil (in?) her mouth, she notices ("notes") that nobody around her looks disinterested any longer. They are now interested in her/ what she is doing. That gives her a sense of satisfaction. (Evidently she wants them to be interested in her.)

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@parados,

parados wrote:

It is a sexual reference.

The way a woman eats an ice cream cone or a lollipop or has a pencil near or in their mouth can make people think of oral sex. In this case Asha is doing it on purpose to make people pay attention. Clearly she knows what they are thinking.

You CANNOT possibly be seriouse??? insert incredulous emoticon

1 Reply

@Nancy88,

Some people have a tendency to stick a pencil or pen in their mouth when they think, especially during a meeting or class.

0 Replies

@dadpad,

Yeah, that seems like a stretch. It's possible that's how it was meant, but that's definitely not the only option.

Nancy, could you provide more context? That would give us a better idea of what she is doing to get interest.

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I believe nancy has posted here before with passages from on line romance novels which is why I suggested what I did.

1 Reply

@parados,

Quote:

I believe nancy has posted here before with passages from on line romance novels which is why I suggested what I did.

Noted

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@Nancy88,

Quote:

Asha returns her pencil to her mouth and notes, with satisfaction, no one looks disinterested any longer.

Asha was addressing her classmate, and then "returned her pencil to her mouth and notes."

What does it mean?

Asha had had her pencil in or near her mouth and had taken it out or away from her mouth. Something seems to have occurred between taking the pencil out/away and returning it to her mouth. She notices in a personally satisfying manner that everyone seems to now be interested. The putting the pencil in or near her mouth may or may not have anything to do with the change in the people around her.

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@dadpad,

dadpad wrote:

I question the position of the comma in the original sentence

The commas before and after the phrase "with satisfaction" are parenthetical. The parenthetical comma, as its name implies, is used to enclose parenthetical words and phrases within a sentence (i.e. information that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence). Such phrases are both preceded and followed by a comma, unless that would result in a doubling of punctuation marks, or the parenthetical is at the start or end of the sentence.

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@Nancy88,

Nancy88 wrote:

Asha returns her pencil to her mouth and notes, with satisfaction, no one looks disinterested any longer.

This is a poorly constructed sentence, which accounts for your confusion. "Asha returns her pencil to her mouth and notes that no one looks disinterested any longer." Then add the qualifier: "Asha returns her pencil to her mouth and notes, with satisfaction, that no one looks disinterested any longer." I also agree that another comma would fix things up nicely: "Asha returns her pencil to her mouth, and notes, with satisfaction, that no one looks disinterested any longer."

I'm personally of the opinion that far too many editors these days do nothing to justify their salaries.

1 Reply

@Setanta,

Quote:

This is a poorly constructed sentence, which accounts for your confusion.

You don't have the foggiest notion what caused the confusion, Dumbo.

Quote:

I'm personally of the opinion that far too many editors these days do nothing to justify their salaries.

You're loaded with personal opinions about language. The trouble is, most of the time, you're full of ****.

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return her pencil to her mouth?

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