[Vocabulary] to set up separate residences.

[englishhobby]

While reading a short story called 'A Canary for One' (by Ernest Hemingway) I came across this sentence (the last one):
We were returning to Paris to set up separate residences.

Generally, I understand it because in the story the narrator and his wife were travelling to Paris to get divorced. The problem is this expression 'to set up separate residences'. What does it mean? Is it an idiom meaning 'to divorce' or is it used in its literal meaning ('to sell their previous accomodation and to buy two smaller ones instead')?
Here's the source: https://www.lingvistov.ru/blog/read...mediate_a_canary_for_one_by_ernest_hemingway/

 

[5jj]

All that we know for sure is that the two are going to have separate places to live in. Anything else is speculation..

 

[Skrej]

It's used literally.

We don't know the exact details of their previous living arrangements, so it doesn't necessarily mean they'll be selling anything. They could have been renting, so all they have to do is move their individual possessions. We can't say for sure whether they'll be looking for one or two new locations, because it's possible that one person remains in the previous dwelling, and only one person finds new accommodations.

We also can't say for sure that the new residences (or residence) will be bought, because again they could rent.

All we can say for certain is that they once lived together, and now they're going to be living separately.

cross-posted

 

[jutfrank]

The whole point is that the narrator and his wife are separating. They're going to Paris to live apart.

[cross-posted]

 

[emsr2d2]

We don't know that they're ending a romantic relationship or that they're divorcing. We don't know that they're selling any property. We don't know if the two residences they buy/rent will be bigger/smaller than the previous one. From that one sentence, we only know one thing. When they get to Paris, they're not going to live together. Don't try to infer too much from one sentence. Particularly in the case of a book, keep reading - I'm pretty sure it will become clear what happens when they get to Paris!

 

[Skrej]

Particularly in the case of a book, keep reading - I'm pretty sure it will become clear what happens when they get to Paris!

Alas, we'll never know. The sentence in question is the very last sentence in Hemingway's short story.

 

[Tdol]

The're not going to live together. Work out the decline yourself.

 

[5jj]

It's not necessarily a permanent decline. My wife and I moved into separate flats (in the same building) in 2007, and into separate flats (several kilometres apart) in 2011. After several years of blissful separation, we bought a flat together last year and now live there.

We have even thought about talking to each other again.

 

[englishhobby]

Particularly in the case of a book, keep reading - I'm pretty sure it will become clear what happens when they get to Paris!

In this case it was the last sentence of a short story. But I'll use my imagination.

 

[Tdol]

Presumably, that is what the author wanted.