a something of antecedents; a real sketch, this time
an antecedent something, ₁ but Fanny Wilding’s eyes, for black ones, were not disagreeable; an Animated girl, she gave to them a something of expression ₂ some vestige of the Brookes countenance — a something of Harriet ₃ a something of her former apprehension there always remained; ₄ a something of Emma about, that lost nothing by; ₅ a something of Alice Craven in every feature; a something of ₆ “a card,” or “a photograph,” or “a something” of Mrs. Hazelton ₇ I told Mrs. A. something of my exercises of mind. ₈ of these a something of Mr. Orchardson’s which we are rarely privileged to see — a sketch, a real sketch this time, of a China-man ₉ but a something of herself had given way ₁₀ a something of some special nature ₁ a something of herself she was, leaving there forever in the vapours of the cave ₁₁
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sources, their respective details at the more’s
1 Rev. F. Nowill-Webster, his Inaugural Essay on Instinct (1868) / more 2 Theodore Hook, his The Man of Sorrow; A Novel (London, 1842) / more 3 Men of Capital. By Mrs. Gore (London, 1846) / more 4 ex “The History of My Great Aunt, who died at the age of sixteen,” author unknown, this from first installment of fiction serialized in Graham’s Magazine (1854) / more 5 May and September. A Novel. By the Hon F(red). Walpole. (London, 1867) / more 6 Anne Marsh-Caldwell, The Heiress of Haughton; or, The Mother’s Secret (1855, but first encountered in later volume catalogued as 1867) / more 7 Annie Thomas (Mrs. Pender-Cudlip), “Jenifer” (Chapter 25, “In the Multitude of Counsellors”) in All the Year Round (November 17, 1883) / more 8 OCR misread (across four columns!) at a testimonial letter from Laura Greenland (Colfax, Pa.), Signs of the Times (Middletown, N. Y., Wednesday, December 4, 1895) / more 9 “Private Picture Galleries : The Collection of James Orchar, Esq, of Broughty Ferry,” by I. M. W., in Good Words (1897), here specifically on W. Q. Orchardson (1832-1910), his painting “The Connoisseur” / more 10 Orchids. A Novel by Lelia Hardin Bugg. Second Edition (St. Louis, 1898) / more 11 Jenny Cartwright, by George Stevenson [pseudonym of Grace Horsfall] (London, 1914) / more
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on the above —
Most instances of “a something of” have a vagueness about them: there is no antecedent in the text; they are used as local rhetorical or poetical flourishes. This somewhat changes in the rebound of the phrase’s usage in the latter half of the 20th century, where it is found — with quite specific senses — in technical and critical settings, e.g., linguistics, philosophy, logic. The sources represented by the above 11 instances are the imperfect result of a search for a-something-of’s where they might be attached to a name or honorific — an antecedent yielding (perhaps) a modicum of concreteness. As always, some elements are reordered, and punctuation introduced.
all a something of’s
