Wordings of a Diary

@oristarA,

Diaries make use of shorthand, as you are well aware, Ori. Much of it can be personal and idiosyncratic though these entries seem completely normal.

Apr.15,2011 [it's] Raining

Mar.9, 2011 [it's] Cloudy

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@JTT,

Thank you.

Would you like to recommend some diaries in English (available online) that have best (esthetically beautiful) forms in your eye?

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@oristarA,

http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/

Use Diary as a sear4ch term.

There are many diaries available here.

Many will be in English from the past, though.

Virginia Woolf's Diaries, and her "A Writer's Diary" are lovely.

The Diary of Samuel Pepys is an absolute classic...but the English may be very hard for you to get.

Mark Twain's diary is now available online...I have it, but haven't read it yet, but i hear it's great.

T

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@dlowan,

dlowan wrote:

The Diary of Samuel Pepys is an absolute classic...but the English may be very hard for you to get.

As I was reading, I felt my eye hurt and ran away. Very Happy

M.A. F.R.S. = Master, Fellow of the Royal Society?

Also:
To whom the second "M.A."refers ?

Context:

THE DIARY OF SAMUEL PEPYS

M.A. F.R.S.

CLERK OF THE ACTS AND SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY
TRANSCRIBED FROM THE SHORTHAND MANUSCRIPT IN THE PEPYSIAN LIBRARY
MAGDALENE COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE BY THE REV. MYNORS BRIGHT M.A. LATE FELLOW
AND PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE
(Unabridged)
WITH LORD BRAYBROOKE'S NOTES

By Samuel Pepys

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@oristarA,

Samuel Pepys MA. FRS.
MA = Master of Arts, a degree awarded at the English-speaking universities; someone admitted to this degree.
FRS = Fellow of the Royal Society

REV. MYNORS BRIGHT M.A
Reverend (a priest) mynors Bright (his name. MA (master of arts)

Fred smith MD (medical doctorate)

Jill Smith BA. (Batchelor of Arts). Another type of degree

Many people put great store in diplaying their "letters".

Letters are a short way of saying I have completed this degree course.

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@dadpad,

Thank you DP.

and she on me = and she alike gazed on me?

To whom the "which" refers to in "which seeing I did forbear?"

Context:

August 18th, 1667. I walked White Hall, but, being wearied, turned into St. Dunstan’s Church, where I heard an able sermon of the place; and stood by a pretty, modest maid, whom I did labour to take by the hand and the body; but she would not, but got further and further from me; and at last I could perceive her take pins out of her pocket to prick me if I should touch her again-which seeing I did forbear, and was glad I did spy her design. And then I fell go gaze upon another pretty maid in a pew close to me, and she on me; and I did go out to take her by the hand, which she suffered a little and then withdrew. So the sermon ended, and the church broke up, and my amours ended also, and so took coach and home, and there took up my wife.

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@oristarA,

oristarA wrote:

Thank you DP.

and she on me = and she alike gazed on me?

To whom the "which" refers to in "which seeing I did forbear?"

Context:

August 18th, 1667. I walked White Hall, but, being wearied, turned into St. Dunstan’s Church, where I heard an able sermon of the place; and stood by a pretty, modest maid, whom I did labour to take by the hand and the body; but she would not, but got further and further from me; and at last I could perceive her take pins out of her pocket to prick me if I should touch her again-which seeing I did forbear, and was glad I did spy her design. And then I fell go gaze upon another pretty maid in a pew close to me, and she on me; and I did go out to take her by the hand, which she suffered a little and then withdrew. So the sermon ended, and the church broke up, and my amours ended also, and so took coach and home, and there took up my wife.

"Which seeing" refers to "I could perceive her take pins out of her pocket to prick me if I should touch her again-"

So...."I saw her take pins out of her pocket to prick me with if I touched her again, so I stopped trying to touch her."

(Go pretty maid!!!)

"And she alike gazed on me"...yes.

Church seems like the hot pick up joint of the era!

What a lecherous bastard was Pepys!

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@dlowan,

Oristar A is reading Pepys!!!!

Yay!

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Quote:

What a lecherous bastard was Pepys!

Indeed:

In church he feels up a girl who moves away from him and takes pins out of her pocket to defend herself. He turns his lustful attention to another girl who lets him hold her hand then she too rejects him. so he goes home and screws his wife.

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@dlowan,

Thank you.

Would you like to rewrite "which seeing I did forbear' in modern plain English? Because I feel I still did not get it very well. (forbear means what? put up with?)

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@oristarA,

oristarA wrote:

Thank you.

Would you like to rewrite "which seeing I did forbear' in modern plain English? Because I feel I still did not get it very well. (forbear means what? put up with?)

for·bear 1 (fôr-bâr)
v. for·bore (-bôr, -br), for·borne (-bôrn, -brn), for·bear·ing, for·bears
v.tr.
1. To refrain from; resist: forbear replying. See Synonyms at refrain1.
2. To desist from; cease.
3. Obsolete To avoid or shun.
v.intr.
1. To hold back; refrain.
2. To be tolerant or patient in the face of provocation.

In this context forbear has the meaning:

1. To refrain from; resist
2. To desist from; cease
1. To hold back; refrain.

"When I saw ("seeing") the woman reach into her pocket for pins to prick me with if I touched her again, ("which" ) I gave up (forbore) the idea of touching her again.

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@oristarA,

Quote:

I could perceive her take pins out of her pocket to prick me if I should touch her again-which seeing I did forbear, and was glad I did spy her design.

This is how I understand it, Ori. I would suggest that the antecedent of 'which' is 'pins'.

I noticed her take pins out of her pocket [to prick me if I should touch her again]-[which] and seeing the pins/them I stopped trying to touch her, and was glad I noticed her plan.

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@JTT,

Dlowan's and yours have given me a clear understanding of the question.

Thank you.

However, I feel the grammatical structure of "which seeing" is quite unique.

D o you mind to give an anatomy of the structure?

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@oristarA,

I actually missed the example sentence Dlowan wrote, which if having seen, I probably would not have written mine.

The portion in italics, while understandable, is not really natural, common, modern. I can't say for sure that it was common in older forms of English, Ori, but my point is that there are many, millions actually, of possible combinations in any language. We are comfortable with those that [there's those double words again only this time with a plural 'those'] are commonly used and not comfortable with all the other possibilities.

This was written in, was it 1667, and it was a diary so the language used may have been more casual everyday language.

I don't think it helpful for me to try to analyse grammar that I'm not familiar with. Like the rest of us, you know understand the meaning, so also like the rest of us, there's no need for you or us, to understand how the grammar worked some three and a half centuries ago.

Quote:

D o you mind to give an anatomy of the structure?

It isn't natural for 'Do you mind' to collocate with 'to [verb]', Ori.

Do you mind +ving ...

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@oristarA,

Try "seeing which".

It's just a placement of words which is a bit unusual for us.

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Got it.

Thank you.

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