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Old 11-02-2006, 02:55 PM   #29
Lalwendė
A Mere Boggart
 
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: under the bed
Posts: 4,737
Lalwendė is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.Lalwendė is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.
Very wise move to use the 'divide and conquer' technique with this one as the meaning is in the clauses which themselves divide and conquer - the line is very much a linguist's joke. It's how I approach it and people usually understand it after I've explained it this way. Try my simple explanation:

I don't know half of you - Bilbo divides the group into two halves

half as well as I should like - For this half, Bilbo doesn't feel he knows them well enough; this is something he regrets.

and I like less than half of you - Bilbo divides the group into a majority and minority

half as well as you deserve - Bilbo feels he doesn't give the minority group enough credit and they are in fact admirable Hobbits and deserved more of him.

Break it up like a Times crossword clue and there you have it.
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