took wonderfully, they said, after old King Edward

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to tell me whether I am right with my interpretation of the expression in bold in the following sentence?

And the Prince--ah! the Prince! who took wonderfully, they said, after old King Edward, but was ever so much slimmer.

take after = follow the example of; also, resemble in appearance, temperament, or character

took wonderfully after old King Edward = was the spit and image of old King Edward

Thanks for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

[emsr2d2]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to tell me whether I am right with my interpretation of the expression in bold in the following sentence?

And the Prince--ah! the Prince! who took wonderfully, they said, after old King Edward, but was ever so much slimmer.

take after = follow the example of; also, resemble in appearance, temperament, or character

took wonderfully after old King Edward = was the spit and spitting image of old King Edward

Thanks for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

Yes, although as it says, he was much slimmer so not identical! As marked above, the phrase is "spitting image of", not "spit and image".

[euncu]

As marked above, the phrase is "spitting image of", not "spit and image".

I was as much suprised as you when I saw "spit and image of". Then I looked up and found this;

spit - Idioms - by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

[euncu]

I also found this later, it may shed some light on the matter;

Spitting image

[emsr2d2]

I was as much suprised as you when I saw "spit and image of". Then I looked up and found this;

spit - Idioms - by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

Interesting! I'd never heard it said like that, although saying someone is "the absolute spit of someone else" is used.

My cousin is the absolute spit of her mother.
My cousin is the absolute image of her mother.
My cousin is the spitting image of her mother.

I have to say it had never occurred to me that putting "spit" and "image" together, would result in "spit and image", despite how similar it sounds to "spitting image"!