klausnick (klausnick) wrote in linguaphiles,
2013-03-11 13:46:00

such as they were

Also, there were two double-bedded rooms—“such as they were,” the landlord said.
(Great Expectations)
1. How many beds were in each room?
2. What does 'such as they were' mean? 
Tags: english
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  • 9 comments

meepettemu

March 11 2013, 09:53:18 UTC 2 months ago

I would say that there were two rooms, each with one double bed in, and that each room wasn't of great quality, but was (just about) adequate.

fencer_x

March 11 2013, 09:59:12 UTC 2 months ago

I've always understood it to be an insinuation that the quality of the item is less than is implied by the sound of it, like "And there's a master bedroom as well--such as it is." (there's a main bedroom, but it's certainly not ~grand~ or ~amazing~ like you might expect of a room called a "master bedroom")

dorsetgirl

March 11 2013, 10:06:02 UTC 2 months ago

Agreeing with previous commenters - each room has one double bed in it (ie a bed wide enough for two people). the landlord is hinting that the quality of either the beds or the rooms themselves (it's difficult to tell without the context) is not all that it could be.

klausnick

March 11 2013, 10:22:29 UTC 2 months ago

The landlord says that he is sorry for having such a modest hotel, does he not?

dorsetgirl

March 11 2013, 10:45:18 UTC 2 months ago

No, to say he's apologising is to over-state matters, I think. He's warning them, that's all, so they don't get nasty when they see the state of the place. Clarifying matters, you could say.

klausnick

March 11 2013, 14:21:18 UTC 2 months ago

Thank you very much.

justlikeyou

March 11 2013, 23:03:37 UTC 2 months ago

I've heard of a room having two smaller beds, for couples to sleep in separate beds in the same room (if they hate sharing a bed, snoring issues, moving around in sleep too much etc) so maybe that's another way of referring to double-bedded?

But I agree that it probably means a double (size) bed and maybe the landlord is being slightly apologetic about that fact, that it's a double bed, not a queen or king sized bed. </p>

:)

arrowwhiskers

March 12 2013, 04:07:44 UTC 2 months ago

I agree with this, that it could be either two beds OR a double-sized bed; it's ambiguous, but it's probably the latter.

As for "such as they were", I'd regard that not as being apologetic about the beds, but rather making a disclaimer that the room or beds may have defects, but the price or deal being offered is non-negotiable--the quality is no better and no worse than it seems at first glance and the owner refuses to be under any commitment to fix problems or be responsible for things that are unsatisfactory.

resident_pink

March 12 2013, 11:08:48 UTC 2 months ago

Isn't two single beds in one room what is usually called "twin beds"/"twin bedroom"? That expression didn't come into use until early 20th century though, with American bias. Same with "king size" and "queen size" beds. These are American expressions of later date. The OP's question concerns an excerpt from Great Expectations, so mid-19th century British English. =) Admittedly I'm not a native speaker of English, but I'd say "double-bed" is rather unambiguously "one bed large enough for two people".

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