Sherlock Holmes Hi, there In a Sherlock Holmes book, I came across this: (Dr. Watson): "Shortly after my marriage, I had bought a connection in the Paddington district. Old Mr Farquhar, from whom I p

Search from various English teachers...

Gabriel

Sherlock Holmes Hi, there In a Sherlock Holmes book, I came across this: (Dr. Watson): "Shortly after my marriage, I had bought a connection in the Paddington district. Old Mr Farquhar, from whom I purchased it, had at one time an excellent general practice; but his age, and an affliction of the nature of St Vitus's dance from which he suffered, had very much thinned it. The public not unnaturally goes on the principle that he who would heal others must himself be whole.(...)"... I have a couple of questions about this passage. What do connection and general practice mean? Could I replace "goes on the principle" with "goes bythe principle "? Thank you! Happy Holidays!

Corrections · 3

Go on the principle is good, even better than by the principle I think, but their meanings are roughly the same, although I would guess that 'go on' relates more generally to the public, and 'go by' might be more connected to an individual's beliefs. General practice is a doctor's office. Connection seems to be some old-fashioned English, as this was written a long time ago. It's possible that connection refers to the rules of the general Medical Council, that a GP's practice should have some connection to the governing body for medical affairs..so the connection could mean that the general practice is connected to and governed by the GMC.

Hi Jordana! I'm not a native speaker, so I could be wrong. However I read Sherlock Holmes and understood it this way: connection - a flat which connected to office, in case of Dr. Watson, who is a doctor, a place where he meet his patients. He is general practitioner, not a specialist in one area, but could help with different diseases.

Hi Jordana! I'm not 100% sure of the answers to your questions, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway. Maybe others can help me.

My understanding is that Mr. Furquhar is a doctor. If I'm right, then a "general practice" is a privately run doctor's office. I'm not sure what a connection is, but it seems to be related - maybe it's a kind of license or other medical regulation that was required in Victorian England.

Goes on the principle and goes by the principle mean basically the same thing. I feel like there are differences, but I can't think of any examples to prove it. Maybe "goes on" is the more antiquated version? Someone with more grammatical knowledge should feel free to correct me.

Sherlock Holmes

Hi, there

In a Sherlock Holmes book, I came across this: (Dr. Watson): "Shortly after my marriage, I had bought a connection in the Paddington district. Old Mr Farquhar, from whom I purchased it, had at one time an excellent general practice; but his age, and an affliction of the nature of St Vitus's dance from which he suffered, had very much thinned it. The public not unnaturally goes on the principle that he who would heal others must himself be whole.(...)"... I have a couple of questions about this passage. What do connection and general practice mean? Could I replace "goes on the principle" with "goes bythe principle "?

Thank you!

Happy Holidays!

Want to progress faster?

Join this learning community and try out free exercises!

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!

Start Learning Today