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Colour coded table
In the White and Blue Houses
Jun 23, 2021 11:47
2 yrs ago
42 viewers *
English term

bubble of calm

English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
For a second she forgot that she was splattered with muddy water and simply relished the week’s holiday that stretched out in front of her like the view from the gate of a fairground. But the **bubble of calm** popped as the damp seeped through her tights, making her shiver, and she marched through the door connecting the bookshop to the narrow house she lived in with her grandparents.

I do not know the exact meaning of bubble of calm. If you know it please advice me. Thank you.
Responses
4 +5 fragile sense of tranquillity
4 the feeling of...
4 a kind of protective envelope, calm inside

Responses

+5
52 mins
Selected

fragile sense of tranquillity

...came to a sudden end.

The writer is comparing this relaxed feeling to a bubble, which is shortlived and easily burst.

Peer comment(s):
neutral Yvonne Gallagher : I think you could give a better explanation too//Yes, to us it is. You gave a synonym but didn't explain it in the context (and have complained when I've done that)
24 mins
I think it's crystal clear, but you're welcome to submit your own.
agree Sheri P
1 hr
agree Oliver Simões
2 hrs
agree Tina Vonhof (X)
2 hrs
neutral Daryo : "a bubble, which is short-lived and easily burst" sure, some bubbles are like that, but that's not necessarily applicable **as the main point** here // Some people spend all their life in a "bubble", so much for "short-lived" = a "bubble" ...
7 hrs
I know you're too busy and important to read the context, so let me do it for you. The first three words are 'for a second'.
agree Dalya Diker
2 days 23 hrs
agree AllegroTrans : not so much "fragile" perhaps as "momentary"
4 days
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you so much for your helpful answer!"
3 mins

the feeling of...

p

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Note added at 4 mins (2021-06-23 11:52:31 GMT)
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You feel a bubble of hysteria etc...
Peer comment(s):
neutral philgoddard : I don't feel you've fully explained this.
49 mins
neutral Yvonne Gallagher : not much of an explanation?
1 hr
neutral Daryo : you could make a longish list of types of "bubbles" but it won't explain what's a "bubble".
1 day 4 hrs
A bubble is a sudden feeling. I think this explanation is sufficient.
neutral AllegroTrans : A bubble is a sudden feeling?? Really??
5 days
A sense of
Something went wrong...
1 day 4 hrs

a kind of protective envelope, calm inside

But the bubble of calm popped as the damp seeped through her tights

"the bubble of calm" here describes how she feels - her perception of the immediate environment.

This "bubble" is like an imagined enveloppe around her that is protecting her from everything that's outside of it, so she feels "calm" inside as she has cut herself off everything that is not inside the bubble (she forgot that she was splattered with muddy water).

You could also see it as "she cut herself off the immediate environment, so she was feeling calm"

The point of a "bubble" is that you cut yourself off "distractions" you don't want to notice (that will be relegated outside the bubble). However long or short lived the "bubble" will be doesn't make it less or more of a "bubble", that not the defining characteristic of a "bubble".

Peer comment(s):
neutral AllegroTrans : Very strange how you reject Phil's idea and re-write in more wordy terms
4 days
Something went wrong...
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