Wu Ting
How would you interpret this phrase ‘for its size’ in the context? How would you interpret this phrase ‘for its size’ in the antepenultimate passage? Thank you. PS: the excerpt is taken from ‘Mr. Know-All’ written by W. Somerset Maugham.the excerpt: Mrs. Ramsay in her modest way flushed a little and slipped the chain inside her dress. Ramsay leaned forward. He gave us all a look and a smile flickered in his eyes.   "That’s a pretty chain of Mrs. Ramsay’s, isn’t it?"   "I noticed it at once," answered Mr. Kelada. "Gee, I said to myself, those are pearls all right."   "I didn’t buy it myself, of course. I’d be interested to know how much you think it cost."   "Oh, in the trade somewhere round fifteen thousand dollars. But if it was bought on Fifth Avenue shouldn’t be surprised to hear that anything up to thirty thousand was paid for it."   Ramsay smiled grimly.   "You’ll be surprised to hear that Mrs. Ramsay bought that string at a department store the day before we left New York, for eighteen dollars."   Mr. Kelada flushed.   "Rot. It’s not only real, but it’s as fine a string for its size as I’ve ever seen."   "Will you bet on it? I’ll bet you a hundred dollars it’s imitation."   "Done."
Oct 30, 2018 12:05 PM
Answers · 3
1
“For its size” here is used to limit this scope of the assertion about how good the string of pearls is. It is not the best in the world because there are other strings that are bigger (e.g., longer or have bigger pearls) and therefore better. But among all strings that are only as big as this string, the speaker is saying he has seen none that are of higher value.
October 30, 2018
It means "considering its size"
October 30, 2018
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