take leave to doubt liminal cases

[nimsooze]

what means this sentence (specially underlined parts) ?
"Some people hold that the monarchy is essntial to Britain's being what it is, while other people take leave to doubt this fantasy . All kinds of liminal cases are possible"
Is the first sentence ironic? Does the writer ridicule "some people"?

[Tdol]

Yes, the writer is mocking them because he calls it a 'fantasy'. 'Liminal' can mean a boundary.threshold or the limit of human consience. 'Take leave' means they stop things to put their point across.

[nimsooze]

Originally Posted by Tdol

Yes, the writer is mocking them because he calls it a 'fantasy'. 'Liminal' can mean a boundary.threshold or the limit of human consience. 'Take leave' means they stop things to put their point across.

Thus, they doubt or don't doubt?

[Andrew Whitehead]

Originally Posted by Tdol

Yes, the writer is mocking them because he calls it a 'fantasy'. 'Liminal' can mean a boundary.threshold or the limit of human consience. 'Take leave' means they stop things to put their point across.

I thought 'take leave' meant 'take permission', as in 'by your leave'.

[queenbu]

while other people take leave to doubt this fantasy .
.........................permit themselves to/allow themselves to/let themselves doubt this fantasy

[BobK]

Originally Posted by queenbu

while other people take leave to doubt this fantasy .
.........................permit themselves to/allow themselves to/let themselves doubt this fantasy

b

[queenbu]

Originally Posted by nimsooze

what does this this sentence mean (especially the underlined parts) ?"Some people hold that the monarchy is essential to Britain's being what it is, while other people take leave to doubt this fantasy . All kinds of liminal cases are possible" Is the first sentence ironic? Does the writer ridicule "some people"?

I admit I had never heard of the word 'liminal'.
limen: the point at which a stimulus is of sufficient intensity to begin to produce an effect: the threshold of consciousness; a low threshold of pain.
li·men (lī'mən) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. li·mens or lim·i·na (lĭm'ə-nə)
The threshold of a physiological or psychological response.
limen
noun
the smallest detectable sensation [syn: threshold]
lim·i·nal /ˈlɪmənl, ˈlaɪmə-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[lim-uh-nl, lahy-muh-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective Psychology. of, pertaining to, or situated at the limen.
lim·i·nal (lm-nl)
adj.
Relating to a threshold


Can it mean 'marginal'?

[BobK]

I've rarely met 'liminal' but the related 'subliminal' is quite common - e.g. 'subliminal advertising' is not addressed to the conscious mind, but acts below the conscious level (perhaps by flashing images onto a cinema screen for only a tiny fraction of a second).

b

[queenbu]

I see. But does' subliminal' have anything to do with 'sublime'?

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by nimsooze

what does [means] this sentence mean (specially underlined parts) ?

All kinds of liminal cases are possible.

Here, I suggest the meaning is that there are the two extreme positions and the 'liminal cases' are the many positions between those two positions, as described by definition 3, below.

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M-W:

Main Entry: lim·i·nal
Function: adjective

3 : of, relating to, or being an intermediate state, phase, or condition : IN-BETWEEN,

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