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I read this expression, "which had crossed over from the merely excessive to the truly obscene", but am finding it difficult to understand it. Could you please let me know what it means? Here is the excerpt:
I thought, I knew they were doing well, but I didn’t realize they were doing this well. And I wasn’t surprised they hadn’t invited anyone over yet, Lotte nervously explained that the house wasn’t finished, she said they would have a housewarming party as soon as they had fully moved in, and then suddenly added something about buying the house because it had such a good space for entertaining, they would be able to host fund-raisers and charity events. I nodded, they were clearly embarrassed by the incontrovertible evidence of their wealth, which had crossed over from the merely excessive to the truly obscene, without any of us really noticing.
- Katie Kitamura, Intimacies, Chapter 12
This is a novel published in 2021 in the United States of America. The protagonist is an interpreter working at the International Criminal Court at The Hague. Now she is at a house party hosted by her friend Eline and her brother Anton. So Anton is telling a story about the time he went to his friends' housewarming party, as to how his friends had such a luxurious house.
In this part, I wonder what is "crossed over," and what it has become.
Would it be "the evidence" that has crossed over? Or "their wealth"...?
If the former is the case, what would it mean that the evidence was first "excessive" and then became "obscene"...? (If I am right in understanding "cross over" means "to switch/become B from A", that is.)
I thought, I knew they were doing well, but I didn’t realize they were doing this well. And I wasn’t surprised they hadn’t invited anyone over yet, Lotte nervously explained that the house wasn’t finished, she said they would have a housewarming party as soon as they had fully moved in, and then suddenly added something about buying the house because it had such a good space for entertaining, they would be able to host fund-raisers and charity events. I nodded, they were clearly embarrassed by the incontrovertible evidence of their wealth, which had crossed over from the merely excessive to the truly obscene, without any of us really noticing.
- Katie Kitamura, Intimacies, Chapter 12
This is a novel published in 2021 in the United States of America. The protagonist is an interpreter working at the International Criminal Court at The Hague. Now she is at a house party hosted by her friend Eline and her brother Anton. So Anton is telling a story about the time he went to his friends' housewarming party, as to how his friends had such a luxurious house.
In this part, I wonder what is "crossed over," and what it has become.
Would it be "the evidence" that has crossed over? Or "their wealth"...?
If the former is the case, what would it mean that the evidence was first "excessive" and then became "obscene"...? (If I am right in understanding "cross over" means "to switch/become B from A", that is.)