English sentence unclear












1















Disconcerting as the grin he then waited my pleasure with was the cast of his features, not just like any I had seen.



I do not perfectly understand "with was" -- with what? This is rather confusing for me.



I am not a native speaker.










share|improve this question













migrated from writing.stackexchange.com 1 hour ago


This question came from our site for the craft of professional writing, including fiction, non-fiction, technical, scholarly, and commercial writing.



















  • Is this from something or did you write it yourself? This sentence is incorrect grammatically. There are many issues as a result. Also, wrong Stack.

    – Sora Tamashii
    5 hours ago






  • 1





    Questions about a sentence you read somewhere and do not understand belong on English Language Learners. It would be helpful to those who would answer you if you could provide the source of the sentence: where did you find it?

    – Galastel
    5 hours ago






  • 1





    I found the source, and it seems to be neo-archaic speech. Poorly written garbage. From 1966: Giles Goat-boy, Or, The Revised New Syllabus

    – Sora Tamashii
    5 hours ago











  • The sentence is not grammatically incorrect, although it does use an unusual form.

    – David Siegel
    10 mins ago
















1















Disconcerting as the grin he then waited my pleasure with was the cast of his features, not just like any I had seen.



I do not perfectly understand "with was" -- with what? This is rather confusing for me.



I am not a native speaker.










share|improve this question













migrated from writing.stackexchange.com 1 hour ago


This question came from our site for the craft of professional writing, including fiction, non-fiction, technical, scholarly, and commercial writing.



















  • Is this from something or did you write it yourself? This sentence is incorrect grammatically. There are many issues as a result. Also, wrong Stack.

    – Sora Tamashii
    5 hours ago






  • 1





    Questions about a sentence you read somewhere and do not understand belong on English Language Learners. It would be helpful to those who would answer you if you could provide the source of the sentence: where did you find it?

    – Galastel
    5 hours ago






  • 1





    I found the source, and it seems to be neo-archaic speech. Poorly written garbage. From 1966: Giles Goat-boy, Or, The Revised New Syllabus

    – Sora Tamashii
    5 hours ago











  • The sentence is not grammatically incorrect, although it does use an unusual form.

    – David Siegel
    10 mins ago














1












1








1








Disconcerting as the grin he then waited my pleasure with was the cast of his features, not just like any I had seen.



I do not perfectly understand "with was" -- with what? This is rather confusing for me.



I am not a native speaker.










share|improve this question














Disconcerting as the grin he then waited my pleasure with was the cast of his features, not just like any I had seen.



I do not perfectly understand "with was" -- with what? This is rather confusing for me.



I am not a native speaker.







style






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked 5 hours ago







As Vet











migrated from writing.stackexchange.com 1 hour ago


This question came from our site for the craft of professional writing, including fiction, non-fiction, technical, scholarly, and commercial writing.









migrated from writing.stackexchange.com 1 hour ago


This question came from our site for the craft of professional writing, including fiction, non-fiction, technical, scholarly, and commercial writing.















  • Is this from something or did you write it yourself? This sentence is incorrect grammatically. There are many issues as a result. Also, wrong Stack.

    – Sora Tamashii
    5 hours ago






  • 1





    Questions about a sentence you read somewhere and do not understand belong on English Language Learners. It would be helpful to those who would answer you if you could provide the source of the sentence: where did you find it?

    – Galastel
    5 hours ago






  • 1





    I found the source, and it seems to be neo-archaic speech. Poorly written garbage. From 1966: Giles Goat-boy, Or, The Revised New Syllabus

    – Sora Tamashii
    5 hours ago











  • The sentence is not grammatically incorrect, although it does use an unusual form.

    – David Siegel
    10 mins ago



















  • Is this from something or did you write it yourself? This sentence is incorrect grammatically. There are many issues as a result. Also, wrong Stack.

    – Sora Tamashii
    5 hours ago






  • 1





    Questions about a sentence you read somewhere and do not understand belong on English Language Learners. It would be helpful to those who would answer you if you could provide the source of the sentence: where did you find it?

    – Galastel
    5 hours ago






  • 1





    I found the source, and it seems to be neo-archaic speech. Poorly written garbage. From 1966: Giles Goat-boy, Or, The Revised New Syllabus

    – Sora Tamashii
    5 hours ago











  • The sentence is not grammatically incorrect, although it does use an unusual form.

    – David Siegel
    10 mins ago

















Is this from something or did you write it yourself? This sentence is incorrect grammatically. There are many issues as a result. Also, wrong Stack.

– Sora Tamashii
5 hours ago





Is this from something or did you write it yourself? This sentence is incorrect grammatically. There are many issues as a result. Also, wrong Stack.

– Sora Tamashii
5 hours ago




1




1





Questions about a sentence you read somewhere and do not understand belong on English Language Learners. It would be helpful to those who would answer you if you could provide the source of the sentence: where did you find it?

– Galastel
5 hours ago





Questions about a sentence you read somewhere and do not understand belong on English Language Learners. It would be helpful to those who would answer you if you could provide the source of the sentence: where did you find it?

– Galastel
5 hours ago




1




1





I found the source, and it seems to be neo-archaic speech. Poorly written garbage. From 1966: Giles Goat-boy, Or, The Revised New Syllabus

– Sora Tamashii
5 hours ago





I found the source, and it seems to be neo-archaic speech. Poorly written garbage. From 1966: Giles Goat-boy, Or, The Revised New Syllabus

– Sora Tamashii
5 hours ago













The sentence is not grammatically incorrect, although it does use an unusual form.

– David Siegel
10 mins ago





The sentence is not grammatically incorrect, although it does use an unusual form.

– David Siegel
10 mins ago










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















2














The sentence would probably be better as follows:




He grinned disconcertingly then waited. My interest was held by the form of his features which just were not like any I had seen.







share|improve this answer
























  • Okay, thank you. Your simplified version made me realize that "Disconcerting as the grin he then waited my pleasure with" is all together and I could find 'wait upon his pleasure' by Shakespeare. This is John Barth, his style is nearly perfect. I could not exactly break down the sentence, I should have associated 'wait with' right away. Sorry.

    – As Vet
    5 hours ago











  • No. You're fine. Just wanting to help as best I can. :)

    – Sora Tamashii
    5 hours ago



















0














An alternate version of this sentence would be




The look of his features -- not just like any I had seen -- was as disconcerting to me as the grin he showed as he waited for my response.




The speaker makes clear that he is upset, mildly upset, by both the unusual facial features of his visitor and by the grin that the visitor showed. He equates these two sources of upset. The phrase "waited my pleasure with" is somewhat archaic, but in no way wrong. I would not imitate it in most writing, however.





share








New contributor




David Siegel is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.




















    Your Answer








    StackExchange.ready(function() {
    var channelOptions = {
    tags: "".split(" "),
    id: "481"
    };
    initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

    StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
    // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
    if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
    StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
    createEditor();
    });
    }
    else {
    createEditor();
    }
    });

    function createEditor() {
    StackExchange.prepareEditor({
    heartbeatType: 'answer',
    autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
    convertImagesToLinks: false,
    noModals: true,
    showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
    reputationToPostImages: null,
    bindNavPrevention: true,
    postfix: "",
    imageUploader: {
    brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
    contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
    allowUrls: true
    },
    noCode: true, onDemand: true,
    discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
    ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
    });


    }
    });














    draft saved

    draft discarded


















    StackExchange.ready(
    function () {
    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f200898%2fenglish-sentence-unclear%23new-answer', 'question_page');
    }
    );

    Post as a guest















    Required, but never shown
























    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

    votes








    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    2














    The sentence would probably be better as follows:




    He grinned disconcertingly then waited. My interest was held by the form of his features which just were not like any I had seen.







    share|improve this answer
























    • Okay, thank you. Your simplified version made me realize that "Disconcerting as the grin he then waited my pleasure with" is all together and I could find 'wait upon his pleasure' by Shakespeare. This is John Barth, his style is nearly perfect. I could not exactly break down the sentence, I should have associated 'wait with' right away. Sorry.

      – As Vet
      5 hours ago











    • No. You're fine. Just wanting to help as best I can. :)

      – Sora Tamashii
      5 hours ago
















    2














    The sentence would probably be better as follows:




    He grinned disconcertingly then waited. My interest was held by the form of his features which just were not like any I had seen.







    share|improve this answer
























    • Okay, thank you. Your simplified version made me realize that "Disconcerting as the grin he then waited my pleasure with" is all together and I could find 'wait upon his pleasure' by Shakespeare. This is John Barth, his style is nearly perfect. I could not exactly break down the sentence, I should have associated 'wait with' right away. Sorry.

      – As Vet
      5 hours ago











    • No. You're fine. Just wanting to help as best I can. :)

      – Sora Tamashii
      5 hours ago














    2












    2








    2







    The sentence would probably be better as follows:




    He grinned disconcertingly then waited. My interest was held by the form of his features which just were not like any I had seen.







    share|improve this answer













    The sentence would probably be better as follows:




    He grinned disconcertingly then waited. My interest was held by the form of his features which just were not like any I had seen.








    share|improve this answer












    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer










    answered 5 hours ago







    Sora Tamashii




















    • Okay, thank you. Your simplified version made me realize that "Disconcerting as the grin he then waited my pleasure with" is all together and I could find 'wait upon his pleasure' by Shakespeare. This is John Barth, his style is nearly perfect. I could not exactly break down the sentence, I should have associated 'wait with' right away. Sorry.

      – As Vet
      5 hours ago











    • No. You're fine. Just wanting to help as best I can. :)

      – Sora Tamashii
      5 hours ago



















    • Okay, thank you. Your simplified version made me realize that "Disconcerting as the grin he then waited my pleasure with" is all together and I could find 'wait upon his pleasure' by Shakespeare. This is John Barth, his style is nearly perfect. I could not exactly break down the sentence, I should have associated 'wait with' right away. Sorry.

      – As Vet
      5 hours ago











    • No. You're fine. Just wanting to help as best I can. :)

      – Sora Tamashii
      5 hours ago

















    Okay, thank you. Your simplified version made me realize that "Disconcerting as the grin he then waited my pleasure with" is all together and I could find 'wait upon his pleasure' by Shakespeare. This is John Barth, his style is nearly perfect. I could not exactly break down the sentence, I should have associated 'wait with' right away. Sorry.

    – As Vet
    5 hours ago





    Okay, thank you. Your simplified version made me realize that "Disconcerting as the grin he then waited my pleasure with" is all together and I could find 'wait upon his pleasure' by Shakespeare. This is John Barth, his style is nearly perfect. I could not exactly break down the sentence, I should have associated 'wait with' right away. Sorry.

    – As Vet
    5 hours ago













    No. You're fine. Just wanting to help as best I can. :)

    – Sora Tamashii
    5 hours ago





    No. You're fine. Just wanting to help as best I can. :)

    – Sora Tamashii
    5 hours ago













    0














    An alternate version of this sentence would be




    The look of his features -- not just like any I had seen -- was as disconcerting to me as the grin he showed as he waited for my response.




    The speaker makes clear that he is upset, mildly upset, by both the unusual facial features of his visitor and by the grin that the visitor showed. He equates these two sources of upset. The phrase "waited my pleasure with" is somewhat archaic, but in no way wrong. I would not imitate it in most writing, however.





    share








    New contributor




    David Siegel is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.

























      0














      An alternate version of this sentence would be




      The look of his features -- not just like any I had seen -- was as disconcerting to me as the grin he showed as he waited for my response.




      The speaker makes clear that he is upset, mildly upset, by both the unusual facial features of his visitor and by the grin that the visitor showed. He equates these two sources of upset. The phrase "waited my pleasure with" is somewhat archaic, but in no way wrong. I would not imitate it in most writing, however.





      share








      New contributor




      David Siegel is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.























        0












        0








        0







        An alternate version of this sentence would be




        The look of his features -- not just like any I had seen -- was as disconcerting to me as the grin he showed as he waited for my response.




        The speaker makes clear that he is upset, mildly upset, by both the unusual facial features of his visitor and by the grin that the visitor showed. He equates these two sources of upset. The phrase "waited my pleasure with" is somewhat archaic, but in no way wrong. I would not imitate it in most writing, however.





        share








        New contributor




        David Siegel is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.










        An alternate version of this sentence would be




        The look of his features -- not just like any I had seen -- was as disconcerting to me as the grin he showed as he waited for my response.




        The speaker makes clear that he is upset, mildly upset, by both the unusual facial features of his visitor and by the grin that the visitor showed. He equates these two sources of upset. The phrase "waited my pleasure with" is somewhat archaic, but in no way wrong. I would not imitate it in most writing, however.






        share








        New contributor




        David Siegel is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.








        share


        share






        New contributor




        David Siegel is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.









        answered 3 mins ago









        David SiegelDavid Siegel

        1011




        1011




        New contributor




        David Siegel is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.





        New contributor





        David Siegel is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.






        David Siegel is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.






























            draft saved

            draft discarded




















































            Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language Learners Stack Exchange!


            • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

            But avoid



            • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

            • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


            To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




            draft saved


            draft discarded














            StackExchange.ready(
            function () {
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f200898%2fenglish-sentence-unclear%23new-answer', 'question_page');
            }
            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown





















































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown

































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown







            Popular posts from this blog

            Liste der Baudenkmale in Friedland (Mecklenburg)

            Single-Malt-Whisky

            Czorneboh