English term
Great descend
It is a quotation from Kipps, a novel published in 1905. There is nothing else about "the Great descend" in the novel. The present action of the novel locates after 1892.
Apr 16, 2014 08:32: B D Finch changed "Level" from "Non-PRO" to "PRO"
PRO (3): Yvonne Gallagher, Ildiko Santana, B D Finch
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Responses
Great = important people / descend = come down to be seen by the people
'the Great' means important people, VIPs — these might be First Sea Lords, Royalty, the Viceroy of India... and so on, down of course to local dignitaries like the Mayor of the town. The key point is that these are people who (at least in their own eyes) need to be treated with special dignity and decorum (we have an expression in EN "the Great and the Good", which conjures up similar images of people who consider themselves important).
As for 'descend' it is an unusual word to choose, almost certainly a deliberate stylistic device to infer that these 'great' people have deigned to come down from their lofty places (and cf. '...descended from Heaven...') to allow themselves to be seen by the hoi-polloi, the ordianry folk. Cf. also the word 'condescend', the similarity with which would not I think go unnoticed.
when important people visit places below their station
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Tony M
3 mins
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Thanks Tony
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JaneTranslates
14 mins
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Thanks Jane
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Yvonne Gallagher
52 mins
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Thanks Gallagy
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Ildiko Santana
8 hrs
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Thanks Ildiko
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Armorel Young
: You can be "descended on" by people equal to you in status - the OED has "make an unexpected and usually unwelcome visit".
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That is another meaning of "descend", which does not fit the present context.
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