What does "Athena went on spooning her soup up" mean?

Question

Vicki had never seen anything like Dexter at table. She was disgusted,

and ashamed for him. He gripped the spoon so that the whole handle

vanished in his paw; he bent over the bowl and slurped so loudly that he

seemed not to be using the spoon at all, but to be transferring the food from

bowl to mouth by suction alone. Athena could eat properly – why didn’t she

correct him in private? But Athena went on spooning up her soup, glancing

from time to time at the children, and spread around her a shy, attentive

calm which even Elizabeth, to whom Dexter’s table manners were merely

one more avenue to her complicated memories of his family, found

soothing and agreeable.

Does it mean: she just was stiring her soup?

Lisa A · Accepted Answer

No. She was eating the soup, with her spoon.

Anonymous · Answer

Lisa is correct.  Athena continues to eat.  The "up" is the action of the spoon going from her plate to her mouth.  The way she eats is a huge contrast to Dexter.  I don't know where you're from but English is clearly not your native language.  I hope I don't cause offence if I point out that "good" table manners can be really different around the world, so you may or may not know just how awful Dexter's style of eating the soup is supposed to be.

In all English speaking countries it's considered bad manners to lift up a soup bowl or to lower one's face closer to the bowl.  Good manners is to use the spoon to lift the soup the long way from the bowl on the table to the mouth. Soup should be eaten silently.  Slurping is considered such a disagreeable noise that it will even cause some people to feel sick and stop eating if they hear someone else slurping.

? · Answer

Does  "Athena could eat properly" mean: If she ate she could eat properly? because of this sentence I think "Athena went on spooning up her soup" mean: she was stiring her soup

What does "Athena went on spooning her soup up" mean?

3 Answers