VOOZH about

URL: https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/physical-absurdity.3756809/

⇱ physical absurdity | WordReference Forums


Menu


Install the app
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.

physical absurdity

Aryana

Senior Member
Persian - Shiraz
Dear all!
What is the exact meaning of "physical absurdity" in the following passage? It is from the book “Persian Gulf Command” by Ashley Jackson, p. 203. It is about World war II and the Allied plans for helping Russia via Iran.

Writing to Eden on 23 October, Cripps said that there was ‘no way we can send 25 to 30 divisions anywhere, Russia or elsewhere’. But he hoped that Britain could act in a more modest manner: ‘Surely it is possible to send either to Murmansk or through Iran at least one or two fully armed divisions to fight on the Russian front.’129 In replying Eden agreed that the chance of Britain sending twenty- five to thirty divisions was pie in the sky – a ‘physical absurdity’, as he put it.

Many thanks in advance.
The quotation marks hint that it is an odd usage. But I suppose it means that the idea is absurd not (just?) for ethical, philosophical, political and other cerebral reasons, but for reasons around the concrete, physical location of materiel, personnel, seas, mountains, …
The quotation marks hint that it is an odd usage. But I suppose it means that the idea is absurd not (just?) for ethical, philosophical, political and other cerebral reasons, but for reasons around the concrete, physical location of materiel, personnel, seas, mountains, …
I would just say practically (physically) impossible to deploy so many troops in the area.
Back
Top Bottom