What is the meaning of the sentence?

[sky753]

Hello Everyone,


The following passage is taken from a tapescript. I am buffled by it. Can you help me?

..." Let me ask you for an explanation of this man. His name is Kadsundo Kohamu. That is a Japanese name given...taken by an American."

" Yes, his name... well ,that means William the conqueror, I belive, in rough translation. His real name-he was born, I suppose, well , in the other century-is a man named William Reagan Gorham. And he was a wonderful tinkerer that the kind that we were producing in the very beginning of the twentieth century, men who just loved this momnet of explosion of machinery. He was like a Henry Ford, who came along a few years after Ford...

It is oral, and the logic seems to me in a mess. Please tell me whether my understanding of the underlined is proper or not!

Kadsundo Kohamu means William the conqueror in English. William was a person in the other century, whose complete name is William Reagan Gorham.

And the second part is very odd to me. tinker in the longman means 1. someone who travels from one place to another to repair pots and pans or sell things or 2. old fashined used as a disobedient or annoying young child.
The first meaing makes some senses to me, maybe means he went to Japan and invented some machinery . The second meaning ,it seems to me that, doesn't work in the context at all. Therefore, I am presuming that there is a third meaning of the word. And why is it spelled as tinkerer? Is tinkerer equal to tinker?

The similar problem is the other sentence taken from the same script.
It is :... And he would invent motorized little vehicles. He invented the diesel engines, airplanes, and finally , he really was, in all respects, the inventor of the first Dastsun car. i mean , the intriguing thing that this American , because the Japanese are so good at aborbing other people's knowledge, he invented the first Dassun. He came to love Jpan. I mean ,for him it was a country loved many of the values, systems of the respect for work, the cleanliness, whatever the country...
What does the underlined mean here then? "this American" seems to be isolated and have no connection with other parts?

Regards

Sky

 

[Anglika]

Hello Everyone,


The following passage is taken from a tapescript. I am baffled by it. Can you help me?

..." Let me ask you for an explanation of this man. His name is Kadsundo Kohamu. That is a Japanese name given...taken by an American."

" Yes, his name... well ,that means William the conqueror, I belive, in rough translation. His real name-he was born, I suppose, well , in the other century-is a man named William Reagan Gorham. And he was a wonderful tinkerer that the kind that we were producing in the very beginning of the twentieth century, men who just loved this momnet of explosion of machinery. He was like a Henry Ford, who came along a few years after Ford...

It is oral, and the logic seems to me in a mess. Please tell me whether my understanding of the underlined is proper or not!

Kadsundo Kohamu means William the conqueror in English. William was a person in the other century, whose complete name is William Reagan Gorham.

The sentence - which reflects the way in which speaking happens - has an interpolation: His real name-he was born, I suppose, well , in the other century-is a man named William Reagan Gorham His real name is William Reagan Gorham. He was born, I think, in the last century

And the second part is very odd to me. tinker in the longman means 1. someone who travels from one place to another to repair pots and pans or sell things or 2. old fashined used as a disobedient or annoying young child.
The first meaing makes some senses to me, maybe means he went to Japan and invented some machinery . The second meaning ,it seems to me that, doesn't work in the context at all. Therefore, I am presuming that there is a third meaning of the word. And why is it spelled as tinkerer? Is tinkerer equal to tinker? A tinkerer is someone who fiddles with things - is always changing them. This person was always building new machinery and refining his designs.

The similar problem is the other sentence taken from the same script.
It is :... And he would invent motorized little vehicles. He invented the diesel engines, airplanes, and finally , he really was, in all respects, the inventor of the first Datsun car. I mean , the intriguing thing that this American , because the Japanese are so good at aborbing other people's knowledge, he invented the first Dassun. He came to love Jpan. I mean ,for him it was a country loved many of the values, systems of the respect for work, the cleanliness, whatever the country...
What does the underlined mean here then? "this American" seems to be isolated and have no connection with other parts? Again this passage reflects the illogical way in which speech and thought patterns occur.

This sentence could be rephrased as : The intriguing thing is that this American invented the first Datsun because the Japanese are usually so good at absorbing other people's knowledge.

Regards

Sky

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[sky753]

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Thanks a million for your reply!

With regards to tinkerer, I have another question here!

The context of tinkerer is '... and he was a wonderful tinkerer that the kind that we were producing in the very beginning of the twentieth centrury, men who just loved this moment of explosion of machinery...'

Does underlined here make some senses? Is it a also an oral interpolation?

And about your rephrasing, I am feeling it is illogical. Judging from the context, it is not because the Japanese are good at absorbing knowledge that William or this American invented the first Datsun! Maybe because William himself had such talent according to my understanding! So please clarify?

Thanks once more for your help!

Regards

SKy

 

[Anglika]

Thanks a million for your reply!

With regards to tinkerer, I have another question here!

The context of tinkerer is '... and he was a wonderful tinkerer that the kind that we were producing in the very beginning of the twentieth centrury, men who just loved this moment of explosion of machinery...'

Does underlined here make some senses? Is it a also an oral interpolation? It looks like transcript of speech - It could be written as "...he was a wonderful tinkerer of the kind we had at the beginning of the 20th century...

And about your rephrasing, I am feeling it is illogical. Judging from the context, it is not because the Japanese are good at absorbing knowledge that William or this American invented the first Datsun! Maybe because William himself had such talent according to my understanding! So please clarify?

The intriguing thing is that this American invented the first Datsun - because the Japanese are usually so good at absorbing other people's knowledge.

It is surprising that the Japanese had not already developed the car because they are usually so good at absorbing and applying other people's knowledge.

Is this a bit clearer?


Thanks once more for your help!

Regards

SKy

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