[General] as for saying

[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?

When his old mother wanted him to give up shooting or to take her to Bath he did it, without a word; he was really unselfish, and as for saying, as Peter did, that he had no heart, no brain, nothing but the manners and breeding of an English gentleman, that was only her dear Peter at his worst; and he could be intolerable; he could be impossible; but adorable to walk with on a morning like this.

as for saying = concerning, regarding

Thanks for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

 

[Heterological]

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?

When his old mother wanted him to give up shooting or to take her to Bath he did it, without a word; he was really unselfish, and as for saying, as Peter did, that he had no heart, no brain, nothing but the manners and breeding of an English gentleman, that was only her dear Peter at his worst; and he could be intolerable; he could be impossible; but adorable to walk with on a morning like this.

as for saying = concerning, regarding

Thanks for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

Actually, just the words "as for" mean concerning or regarding. In this passage, Peter often said that the "he" being spoken of had no heart, no brain, etc. Concerning Peter's saying that, it seems it wasn't true, and was only an example of the kind of person Peter was.

 

[vil]

Hi Heterological,

Thank you for your precisely elucidation.

Would you be kind to tell meyour thoughts on the matter of the following modified interpretation of the phrase in question?

as for saying, as Peter did = concerning Peter’s insuniations

Regards,

V.

 

[Heterological]

That's pretty much accurate, except that the word "insinuations" indicates that the views Peter shared were not stated explicitly, but were implied, or demonstrated with subtle hints or body language.

If you ask my opinion of George W. Bush, I could either answer you directly, or I could insinuate a response that might be a little more difficult to interpret. My direct answer would be:
"I think he's an idiot, but Dick Cheney was the evil mastermind who made his presidency such a disaster."
My insinuation might be something like:
"Well, I've seen higher IQs in a bag of French Fries, but we all know who the real monster was. Cough, cough." (gun-like hand gestures.)

Does that help?

 

[vil]

Hi Heterological,

Thank you for your eloquent and very pictorial explaining.

Regards,

V.