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MAKE SOMEONE FREE OF SOMETHING

Posted by Pfbb1058 on January 31, 2007

In Reply to: MAKE SOMEONE FREE OF SOMETHING posted by Smokey Stover on January 12, 2007

: : : : Dear experts,

: : : : According to the Longman Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs by R. Courtney, MAKE SOMEONE FREE OF SOMETHING can be used to mean 'give smb. the right or permission to use smth. that belongs to another person, as in:

: : : : They were made free of his house and garden; they visited him in the evenings for lessons and advice.

: : : : His uncle, a clergyman named Thomas Hill, was almost a father to him; and his half-aunt, Miss Tyler, made him free of her house till his own eccentricities, and her wrath at his marriage, drove him out.

: : : : The phrase doesn't seem to make sense to speakers of American English. Would you say this usage is strictly British?

: : : : Thank you,
: : : : Yuri

: : : I'm a speaker of American English, most of the time, and I recognize and understand the use you illustrate. Do I use it myself? No. But many American writers use Britishisms (Britticisms? British bits?) without blinking, so it is probably an exaggeration to call it "strictly British." Perhaps it is unstrictly British.
: : : SS

: : As often happens on this board, I (an Englishwoman) am surprised to learn that a phrase I would use without thinking is strange to Americans, or at least strikes them as a "Briticism". Perhaps we use it more because it refers to a legal procedure that still exists in Britain. In the Middle Ages only free men (i.e. not serfs, or vassals of a feudal lord) had the right to own property and practice a trade or craft within a town; if a stranger came to a city he had to become a freeman of that city - to be * made free of* it - in order to buy a house and do business there. Ancient cities in Britain still maintain this custom, although it is now purely a ceremonial honour with only theoretical picturesque privileges attached. E.g. a Freeman of the City of London may drive a flock of sheep over London Bridge - somebody actually did this last year - and a Freeman of Glasgow may fish in the River Clyde (and is theoretically obliged to help police the city, and defend it in case of attack). Freedom of a city is also often conferred on local military units, and gives them the right to march through the city with drums beating and colours flying - something which would otherwise count as an act of aggression against the civic authorities and the citizens. (VSD)

: We Americans have something called "the freedom of the city," which, like the keys to the city, is an honor, but without any demonstrable substance that I know of. As for spelling, we have this, direct from the mandarins' palace:

: s.v. Briticism "orig. U.S.

: Also Britticism.

: A phrase or idiom characteristic of Great Britain, but not used in the English of the United States or other countries.
: 1868 R. G. WHITE in Galaxy Mar. 335 This use of the word is a widespread Briticism. 1883 Boston (U.S.) Jrnl. 17 Sept., A well arranged handbook of Briticisms, Americanisms, Colloquial Phrases, etc. 1885 Sat. Rev. 28 Nov. 709 The American critic is within his right when he retorts at once that the use of 'directly' in place of 'as soon as' is a Britticism."

: There is also Britishism: "The characteristic qualities of the British; with a and pl., any of these qualities; a British peculiarity, form of expression, or the like (cf. BRITICISM)."
: SS

Bert made his son Fred free of his debt by paying what he Fred owed to the lender.

John Doe was a benevolent man, he made many people free of slavery.

The Earl of Warwick made those serfs who served him well in battle free of their serfdom.

In other words released from obligation.

Not an 'ism, merely a way to seperate "wordsmiths" from lesser mortals.
Hence it's got lost from AE, where put downs are somewhat blunter.

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