While I'm reading my book I saw a sentence like this: "He had his hand in her hair, and his gun in her face" What does it mean ?
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Why is my question downvoted ? can anyone tell me the reason? Because I can't see a reason– 1 JustOnly 1Commented Feb 14, 2020 at 13:37
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1I wasn't the downvoter, but I suspect it's because your question, "what does it mean?", is vague. What exactly is confusing you? The vocabulary? The pronouns? The subjects and objects? This will help us understand the source of your confusion, which in turn helps you and other people who have the same kind of question in the future.– JacobCommented Feb 14, 2020 at 13:54
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I don't know the downvoter but any logical explanation to the question "What does it mean?"refers to the understanding of the sentence in general.– SovereignSunCommented Feb 14, 2020 at 14:47
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2 Answers
He was holding her by the hair with one hand while pointing his gun in her face holding the gun in the other hand.
answered Feb 14, 2020 at 5:13
)he construction in the example is a figure of speech (usually used as a literary device) known as "zeugma" or "syllepsis".
In zeugma, a single word is used in two parts of a sentence (usually clauses) but must be understood differently in relation to each
"He had his hand in her hair, and [he had] his gun in her face"
Compare "Miss Bolo [...] went straight home, in a flood of tears and [in] a sedan-chair." (Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers)
