Meaning of as she’d be the first to admit”
Just recently, by air mail, I received an invitation to a wedding that will take place in England on April 18th. There are some very rare things that happen in this country. It happens to be a wedding I would give a lot to be able to get to, and when the invitation first arrived, I thought it might just be possible for me to make the trip abroad, by plane, expenses be hanged. I think my mother-in-law will spend the last two weeks of April with us, but I don’t think she will be able to hear me when she does in fact say. As a result, we’ve decided against it. How many times did Mother Grencher ever get to see her? And she isn’t getting younger by the time I see her. She’s 58 years old. Is it true that she’d be the first to admit that she has died under no circumstances? What
did dose it mean: They were first decided to invite their mother-in-law?
Does admit mean: Alow to enter?
Source: https://genius.yahoo.com (source). com/www/salinger-for-esme-with-love-and-squalor-annotated?
The use of “as’someone’ would be the first to admit’ after saying something about that person, when we wish to express that the person himself would agree with what we said or be more serious. Usually this is done when we are saying positive thing about the person – e.g. ‘No harm!’ or “Some idea how I can change someone’s attitude.” My sister is pretty lazy in life, as she would probably admit it. To say this about someone’s age is strange, especially if the age is 57, unless that is a joke (JD Salinger was a humorist, and this story contains some humour). Where is the narrator’s mother in law in fact, in fact, reminding her daughter that she is “not getting any younger” in order to attract his presence?
