to take on appearance

[mankak]

What is the meaning of these phrases?

1.To take on appearance

2. To shade a conversation with their children

Thank you in advance

[Quizmonster]

1. To take on the appearance of something means to begin to look like it. For example, a family whose members totally dislike each other might - in public - smile and laugh together so that they look like a happy family. That is, they have taken on the appearance of a happy family.

2. Are you sure you mean shad and not shar? If it is share, then it means they take part in such a conversation.

[Quizmonster]

Oops! I missed the letter e from the end of both shade and share above.

[Clanad]

It's unlikely that I could win any linguistic argument with Q... So,however pedantic it may appear, I think his description vis-a-vis family members is more in the nature of play acting; feigning or posturing, whereas a time-worn Proverb comes to mind that may more accurately decribe your query: A wolf in sheep's' clothing. It has more of the meaning of an intentional camouflage. In Japan the traditional Kabuki theater employs men to perform as the women (called onnagata),, thereby taking on the appearance (and doing it quite convincingly, by the way) of females.

Uncharacteristically, Q side tracked down a rabbit trail on the second part of your question. To shade the conversation,etc., would include descriptive passages from the Diary of Anne Frank, the tragic story of a Jewish child and her family being hidden from the Nazi's during pre-War II by a Dutch family. The parents of the Dutch children living in the same house carefully shaded, i.e., talked-around, with no direct reference to the secret in their attic. To speak openly would have imposed a burden of secrecy on the family members that young children may not have been able to bear. Their are other good descriptions. We do it almost everyday, do we not. We all remember our parents spelling<.I> out words we weren't supposed to know (although that's more of an out and out prevarication in some ways)...

[Quizmonster]

Well, we live and learn, C! I have certainly never heard shade used in such a sense with the word conversation, though of course, one can shade one's meaning. I thought it much more likely that - the keys d and r being contiguous - a typo was the likelier explanation!

[mankak]

Thank you very much Quizmmonster and Clanad..

Clanad
Your detailed explanations are very impressive.
As to Q 2, I first tried to translate shade into cover or protect.

Best regards
mankak