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become a bar

English translation: create a front

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:become a bar
Selected answer:create a front
Entered by: Jennifer Levey

20:12 Nov 9, 2017
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / Literature
English term or phrase: become a bar
Hi,
can you define the phrase "to become a bar"? (The paragraph below is from The Food of The Gods by H.G Wells).

"Local Government Board clerks roused themselves to judicial obstruction. The little lawyer turned up again to represent about a dozen threatened interests; local landowners appeared in opposition; people with mysterious claims claimed to be bought off at exorbitant rates; the Trades Unions of all the building trades lifted up collective voices; and a ring of dealers in all sorts of building material BECAME A BAR. Extraordinary associations of people with prophetic visions of aesthetic horrors rallied to protect the scenery of the place where they would build the great house, of the valley where they would bank up the water."
MuratK.
Türkiye
Local time: 12:59
create a front
Explanation:
It's interesting to see how in just a few words HG Wells morphs a closed self-protecting "ring of dealers" into a "bar" (straight line) creating a front in opposition to ... (whatever).

circle - a self-centered group or club of people sharing a common interest
front - a group of people setting themselves up in opposition to authority

OT: Given my somewhat heretic views about lawyers, I wonder if perhaps I've just understood why they say they've been "called to the bar" (think about it...).
Selected response from:

Jennifer Levey
Chile
Local time: 05:59
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +3create a front
Jennifer Levey
3 +3create obstruction
Martin Riordan
4 +1an authority
B D Finch


  

Answers


9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
create obstruction


Explanation:
I think it means this.

Example sentence(s):
  • 5. Something that impedes or prevents action or progress: A poor education was a bar to his ambitions.

    https://www.thefreedictionary.com/bar
Martin Riordan
Brazil
Local time: 06:59
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 42
Notes to answerer
Asker: sounds right. thanks.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Patricia Fierro, M. Sc.
6 mins
  -> Thank you, Patricia!
agree  Tony M
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Tony!
agree  acetran
10 days
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
create a front


Explanation:
It's interesting to see how in just a few words HG Wells morphs a closed self-protecting "ring of dealers" into a "bar" (straight line) creating a front in opposition to ... (whatever).

circle - a self-centered group or club of people sharing a common interest
front - a group of people setting themselves up in opposition to authority

OT: Given my somewhat heretic views about lawyers, I wonder if perhaps I've just understood why they say they've been "called to the bar" (think about it...).

Jennifer Levey
Chile
Local time: 05:59
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 20

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M
5 hrs
agree  Tina Vonhof (X): A front seems to fit well.
14 hrs
agree  acetran
10 days
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

16 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
an authority


Explanation:
I think that the meaning of "bar" here is that given in my Collins dictionary and numbered 14: "anything referred to as an authority or tribunal: the bar of decency."

B D Finch
France
Local time: 11:59
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 84

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jennifer Levey: You might be right - as suggested in the "OT" note in my answer. That said, I'm not sure "bar of decency" is a valid example of the meaning "authority or tribunal" - I would see it as an (arbitrary) criterion, as in "they set the bar very high...".
2 hrs
  -> Thanks Robin. The expression "bar of decency" treats decency as a mystical embodiment of that (often subjective) virtue that is an authority above earthly ones. It does derive from the bar of a court, which everyone had to keep behind.
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