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Expression: kiss at her cheek



 
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ESL Forums | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
state vs. condition | 'I hope' vs 'I'm hoping'
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Expression: kiss at her cheek Thu May 10, 2007 10:09 am  Expression: kiss at her cheek
 

Hi,

Could you please give a go-over on the following passage and help me with it?

Quote:
It was like that. Almost the last thing I remember was standing with Daisy and watching the moving picture director and his Star. They were still under the white plum tree and their faces were touching except for a pale thin ray of moonlight between. It occurred to me that he had been very slowly bending toward her all evening to attain this proximity, and even while I watched I saw him stoop one ultimate degree and kiss at her cheek.

If the underlined part were 'kiss her cheek', what difference would it make? Does 'at' suggest a sense of indirection?

Thank you!

Haihao
Haihao
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at Thu May 10, 2007 10:33 am  at
 

Hi Haihao,

I think you have to look upon the use of at here as a follow up to he had been very slowly bending toward her all evening to attain this proximity, since the difference between simply kiss and kiss at suggests that the kiss is aimed at her cheek. The result however is the same because the kiss reaches its mark!

A
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Expression: kiss at her cheek Thu May 10, 2007 10:39 am  Expression: kiss at her cheek
 

Thank you so much, Alan, for your paraphrase which is so satisfactory to me.

Haihao
Haihao
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Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 1304
Location: Japan

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state vs. condition | 'I hope' vs 'I'm hoping'
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