What does "He is so odd a mixture of" mean?

Question

The following passage is from Pride and Prejudice.

Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three and twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character.

With my limited knowledge of English, I know the following combinations are ok.

He was odd..

He was so odd..

He was a mixture of...

He was an odd mixture of...

But what does "so odd a mixture of" mean here? It feels like some words are missing in this phase. How should I interpret this phase?

Thank you.

So is used as an intensifier (of the word odd) here. – Lawrence Apr 09 '20 at 13:18 — Lawrence, Apr 09 '20 at 13:18
So odd a mixture - such an odd mixture. – Michael Harvey Apr 09 '20 at 14:33 — Michael Harvey, Apr 09 '20 at 14:33
There were markedly contrasted aspects to his character. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 08 '22 at 13:34 — Edwin Ashworth, Jan 08 '22 at 13:34

score -1 · Answer 1 · edited Jan 08 '22 at 13:05

-1

I'm not an English speaker but trying to comprehend this book recently. In those 18th-19th century books, people used the old-fashioned language actually, and there is no need to understand word by word, as the grammar and vocabulary are all old and not used this day. Therefore, I try to understand the "so odd a mixture of" is "he was a mixture of...and that mixture is very odd".

edited Jan 08 '22 at 13:05

KillingTime

6,206

answered Jan 08 '22 at 13:02

tramxinhdep

1

There's nothing particularly out-of-date or archaic about this construction. It's still found in contemporary English: here's an example of "He’s so bad a person..." And see this question – Stuart F Feb 07 '22 at 15:43

What does "He is so odd a mixture of" mean?

1 Answers1