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Of itself

Posted by ESC on August 05, 2004

In Reply to: Of itself posted by lantis on August 05, 2004

: good night all,
: can you help me with the meaning of "of itself" in the sentence:
: Spoken language interpreters have been at the forefront of explaining this process, which, in and of itself, is not a simple task...
: thanks

From Merriam-Webster:
in itself : in its own nature : INTRINSICALLY. Was not in itself bad.

INSTRINSIC -- a. belonging to the essential nature or constitution of a thing. The intrinsic worth of a gem. The intrinsic brightness of a star.

I understand what is meant. But I'm not sure if I can explain it. It is a way of isolating something -- "explaining the process" without any connected tasks. Just explaining the process alone is not a simple task.

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