Aha! I just read the quote again more carefully and I think I understand now that the expression about the unsound mode of transport is meant to be humorous. It is comparing the mode of transport for the =arrival= at the cemetery (by Packard hearse) with his "arrangements for the =departure=" from it, which would have been a coffin--certainly an "unsound mode of transport." :) And maybe this is the sort of "shrewd observation" she would have been inclined to make--had she been there to make it. :)

As Jura says, it is an offensive term, but it's also a childish one: "Poo-poo" is a child's term for feces. The speaker either is a child or is using a juvenile term in order to soften the insult to Eliot.

What's your favorite horror movie? The Blair Witch Project.

"You seem to be limping. What happened?" Then they will have to give you some details, and you can take it from there--depending whether or not you believe what they tell you. :)

I agree, these expressions are confusing. I am guessing that "William missed the shrewd observations he hadn't fully appreciated in his grandmother's lifetime" is an elaborate way of saying that while she was alive, William didn't value his grandmothers's way of making shrewd observation or remarks, but after she was gone, he missed her and missed this thing that she did, and decided to arrange a funeral that he could imagine she would have enjoyed, as a way of honoring her in death more than he feels he did in life. ~ As to the "unsound mode of transport," it's possible that the grandmother had an opinion about the Packard brand of cars that it was not very good, or maybe that cars in general were not safe.

You are correct: Modern English never expresses this concept well, but the phrase "what it is they are models of" refers to the object that is modeled, the modeled object. An editor should have clarified this before the article was published. :)

"Comprehensible" = understandable "input" = what is heard, read, observed, recorded, etc.: put in "output" = what is spoken, written, shown, provided, etc.: put out In English, "in" and "out" at the beginning of words is an adverb indicating the direction of the action, toward one or away from one. This is similar to Latin.

Agree with davex, except "above" is properly used for physical position or location. "Above" is used in this way (what in the US we call grade level) and is understandable, but is just not technically accurate.