Wu Ting
How would you interpret this phrase? I could hardly let Myers stand out there getting a snowdrift on his hat. I had a fire on the hearth and coffee made, prepared for a solitary day. So I brought Myers his coffee on the sofa and poked up the fire, to all appearances entertaining a guest. We joked about the elections coming up, how Truman will soon be looking for a new job. Three magazines lay on the coffee table, the week’s editions I’d purchased from the newsstand, all of them with President Dewey on their covers, his bold new plan for the nation outlined inside. How would you interpret this phrase: I brought Myers his coffee on the sofa? Does it mean the narrator brought the coffee to the man called Myers who was sitting on the sofa? Or does it mean the narrator brought Myers a cup of coffee and put the coffee on the sofa? I think it’s weird, for who would put a cup of coffee on a sofa? It would splash all over. Thanks! And this excerpt is taken from The Lacuna by Kingsolver.
May 27, 2015 2:02 AM
Answers · 3
thank you.
May 27, 2015
It does mean the narrator brought the coffee to Myers who was sitting on the sofa. BUT: it's not perfectly clear. The coffee might be ON the sofa, and the narrator brought the sofa over to Myers (very strong person!). English is weird Also: "getting a snowdrift on his hat", doesn't make much sense. I think it is just "creative" or "artistic" writing.
May 27, 2015
It means Myers was sitting on the sofa and the narrator brought the coffee to him there.
May 27, 2015
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