grounded, in a wonderful school and others

[flowersa]

Hi guys I'm new here and want to understand English as the natives so I'll have a lot of questions to ask here ...

I have here some doubts in the next phrases ...

What is "grounded" here?
Is "Questioned whether" means he was wondering?
I have no idea what is "nibbling around the edges"

"his spouse had her own career in the city; her mother lived nearby; the girls were happy,
grounded, in a wonderful school. But Obama missed them all terribly and questioned whether the separation was worth it when all he seemed to be doing in the Senate was nibbling around the edges."

[bhaisahab]

Hi guys I'm new here and want to understand English as the natives so I'll have a lot of questions to ask here ...

I have here some doubts in the next phrases ...

What is "grounded" here?
Is "Questioned whether" means he was wondering?
I have no idea what is "nibbling around the edges"

"his spouse had her own career in the city; her mother lived nearby; the girls were happy,
grounded, in a wonderful school. But Obama missed them all terribly and questioned whether the separation was worth it when all he seemed to be doing in the Senate was nibbling around the edges."

Welcome to the forums, flowersa. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you will find several questions on the subject of "grounded". If, after reading them, you still have questions you are welcome to ask them.

[Raymott]

Hi guys I'm new here and want to understand English as the natives so I'll have a lot of questions to ask here ...

I have here some doubts in the next phrases ...

What is "grounded" here?
Is "Questioned whether" means he was wondering? Yes
I have no idea what is "nibbling around the edges"
I'll assume you know the literal meaning of this - taking tiny bites from the edge of something.
It means he wants a larger bite of the power pie/cake/biscuit. "If you nibble around the edges" of something, you are not making a big difference to it. This is a man who wants to change the whole pie. He wants the authority to take a carving knife to it and, if necessary, cleave it in twain (cut it in half). So basically, it means his ambitions were being frustrated. He didn't feel he had enough power to change things.


"his spouse had her own career in the city; her mother lived nearby; the girls were happy,
grounded, in a wonderful school. But Obama missed them all terribly and questioned whether the separation was worth it when all he seemed to be doing in the Senate was nibbling around the edges."

Bhai has already dealt well with 'grounded'.

[flowersa]

Welcome to the forums, flowersa. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you will find several questions on the subject of "grounded". If, after reading them, you still have questions you are welcome to ask them.

Hi bhaisahab thanks :)
My problem for me as not English speaker is that I'm always not sure about the proper meaning of the words yes? So I had to come and ask here because I'm trying to understand it really good ...

[flowersa]

Bhai has already dealt well with 'grounded'.

Hi Raymott I didn't understand the literal meaning for this phrase but now with your great explantion I understad it perfectly thanks

[flowersa]

I still don't understand "grounded" here, I know only the meaning where a parent gets angry and say "you're grounded"!

[Raymott]

I still don't understand "grounded" here, I know only the meaning where a parent gets angry and say "you're grounded"!

Did you read this one:
http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/as...-grounded.html
Also see:
http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/grounded
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grounded

[flowersa]

Hi Raymott ...

I did read all the thread but didn't understand it after
http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/as...-grounded.html

Also see:
Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grounded

The first page was helpful for me, thanks :)