Dictionary

grandsonly en · ADJ

Etymology

From grandson + -ly.

Meanings

1. Relating to or characteristic of a grandson.
   • He lives in a country where foreign movies are subtitled, and he had a grandmother who did not read all that well. Once, in an act of 'grandsonly kindness, he played a whole movie for her on his VCR, pressing the pause button every second or third frame so the old lady could slowly and laborously^([sic]) read her way through the subtitles. 2002, Marko Fancovic, “Plot Construction”, in Tom Dullemond, Darin Park, editors, The Complete Guide™ to Writing Fantasy, volume one (Alchemy With Words), Dragon Moon Press, →ISBN, page 118:
   • Standpatism is the clarified quintescence^([sic]) of social sin. To desire to be as good as one’s father is a laudable ambition, but the standpatter is bitterly opposed to being any better. He is determined to carry grandfatherly virtues into a grandsonly age. This is the ideal which for centuries has held progress bound in China. The son who is only as good as his father is worse than his father, for the father practiced the virtues of his time, while the son fell behind his. 1915, Proceedings: Sixteenth National Convention of the Anti-Saloon League of America, page 505:
   • My parents didn’t know what they were talking about. Grandpa had a ton of secrets. He was way cooler than they were giving him credit for. And if he couldn’t remember that part, then it was my grandsonly duty to do it for him. 2019, Stacey Matson, Finding Cooper, Scholastic Canada Ltd., →ISBN:
   • You would be disappointed if you visited some of these Yorkshire towns expecting to find every man cherishing his neighbour like a brother or loving the Departments of State with a grandsonly love. 1913, The National Review, volume LX, page 600:
   • Grandma makes bran muffins that taste like sawdust. I eat three. She says she’s happy I’m here. She also says she’s happy the town gives rebates to seniors for garbage disposal. She calls me a handsome young fellow, and I smile and say grandsonly things like “shucks.” 2012, Fran Kimmel, “Joey”, in The Shore Girl, NeWest Press, →ISBN, page 157:
   • She continued, frowning, “He’s not used to being a grandfather, either. I can count the times he’s seen you on one hand, and—” “Yeah,” Alec interrupted, “and they all stunk. He needs you, Mom, but I could go home and he’d never notice.” He looked her in the eye, daring her to say otherwise. “But I want to fix that, and I can’t do it without you!” “Look, Mom, I promised I’d be ‘grandsonly,’ and I’ve tried. I helped everybody all week, and I asked him questions about dinosaurs, and holy crow! What does it take?” 1993, Joan Davenport Carris, chapter 1, in Stolen Bones, Boston, Mass.; Toronto, Ont.; London: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 4:
   • Besides, I hadn’t been to visit my grandparents in a while, having fallen away from my grandsonly duties ever since Grandpa Hedley declared war on the county firebug. 2015, David Oppegaard, “Grandma’s Dream”, in The Firebug of Balrog County, Flux, →ISBN:
   • One day, as I was doing my grandsonly duty, my grandpa thought it would be funny to act like he was going to push me into the septic tank. And it was funny, at least until I lost my balance. Before I knew it, I was standing knee deep in sewage. 2008, Ed Stetzer, “Kingdom Come”, in Sent: Living the Missional Nature of the Church, LifeWay Press, published 2011, →ISBN, page 47:
   • It’s a cinch J. P. Morgan’s talk with Wilson wasn’t all grandsonly. 1915 January 30, Tulsa Daily World, volume X, number 111, Tulsa, Okla., page four:
   • Lodwig said he bought John a kite after a little grandsonly insistance,^([sic]) and John showed him how to put it together. 1965 May 2, “Young Kite Flier Up 9 Floors”, in The Sunday Oklahoman, volume 74, number 117, Oklahoma City, Okla.: Oklahoma Publishing Co., page 18:
   • Grandfatherly ESPN analyst Peter Gammons and grandson-ly Boston Red Sox GM Theo Espstein are putting to the test an age-old question: What horrible, horrible thing would you be willing to do to support cancer research? 2004 January 19, “Sports on the edge”, in Jeff McDonald, compiler, Standard-Times, San Angelo, Tex., page 2D:
   • Barnes was probably worthless, in his grandsonly adoration. 1993, Barry Hannah, Bats Out of Hell, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin/Seymour Lawrence, →ISBN, page 36:
   • In writing to the Kaiser that he must withdraw that Kruger telegram, Grandma Victoria runs the risk of being told a conventional piece of grandsonly advice. 1896 January 8, Scranton Tribune, Scranton, Pa., page 4:
   • The list of activities Grandpa liked better than talking didn’t include much. He could go on for hours, and did, mesmerizing his grandsonly audience night after night. 1988 September 29, Joe Rogers, “Storytelling returns Grandpa to the front porch”, in The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss., page 1E:
   • On the whole, the evening was not very exciting and, apart from grandsonly fulminations and the resonant reading by Wollschläger, it consisted mainly of a string of reminiscences. 2007, Fritz Senn, quotee, “Reminiscences”, in Christine O’Neill, editor, Joycean Murmoirs: Fritz Senn on James Joyce, The Lilliput Press, page 47:
   • Thoughout Arguments within English Marxism Thompson is offered protracted grandsonly instruction in the techniques of egg-sucking. 1980, New Society, page 236:
   • You remember how it used to be, once upon a time, when you sat by the side of your grandfather, a lifelong Democrat. You watched in grandsonly admiration as Gramps blessed out the TV set (“Lies!”) whenever Hubert Humphrey made a campaign promise. You could hardly wait to grow up and vote. 1992 October 24, Billy Cox, “Step right up to Noah’s ark”, in Florida Today, page 1B:
   • Finally, let her pray that a miracle ma ybe^([sic]) vouchsafed her so that she will understand that she is no longer a fascinator and heart smasher, and that no man has any interest in her except in a grandsonly way. 1914 April 21, Dorothy Dix [pen name; Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer], “Of Interest to Women: Growing Old Gracefully”, in The Lancaster Intelligencer, volume L, number 195, Lancaster, Pa., page 5:
   • Just before I arrived, Ivor had in a grandfatherly way asked to hold my infant nephew, Christopher. He responded in a grandsonly way by vomiting on Ivor’s shirtfront. 2006, Donald L. Gelpi, Closer Walk: Confessions of a U.S. Jesuit Yat, Hamilton Books, →ISBN, page 87:

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