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Results tagged with meaning
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Questions regarding the meaning of certain terms or phrases used in a work of literature. If your question concerns the symbolic significance of something whose surface meaning is clear, use the [symbolism] tag instead. Please add specific tags as well: for the author (if known), the language (if not English), and either the work itself (if long) or the [poetry] or [short-stories] tags for short works.
18
votes
Meaning of a 19 century joke printed in a newspaper, with punchline "Oh, mother, what a good...
The quotation says that the family “were discussing what mourning would be required”, where “mourning” is used in the sense:
mourning, n. 6.a. The dress or customary clothes (in Western society usual …
- 63.9k
3
votes
How does "every branch of human knowledge, if traced up to its source and final principles, ...
The trouble that you are having with your questions about quotations is that words have meaning in a context, and so you cannot reliably determine the meaning of a sentence on its own: it might be fictional … The context makes it clear that the meaning of the quotation is that if you take a scientific phenomenon and explain it, and explain the explanation, and so on, eventually you will reach a point where …
- 63.9k
2
votes
Opening lines of Gwendolyn Brooks' poem "Riot"
A well-known piece of doggerel suggests that “the Lowells talk only to Cabots, and the Cabots talk only to God”, meaning that the Cabots are the snootiest of all. …
- 63.9k
0
votes
Accepted
What did Steven Pressfield mean by "give" in this context?
Considered charitably, we might describe Pressfield’s version of the sentence as a combination of metonymy (whereby ‘genius’ is used with the meaning ‘product of genius’) and pun (whereby ‘genius’ appears …
- 63.9k
1
vote
Summer Wine: what was the 'unfamiliar line' with which the girl reassured her lover?
The “unfamiliar line” is the one that appears (in slight variations) at the end of each verse of the song:
And I will give to you my summer wine
This is an unfamiliar (meaning “original”) pick-up …
- 63.9k
4
votes
What does James Thurber mean by "Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility"?
TL;DR: This quotation is the result of a kind of collaboration between William Wordsworth, James Thurber, and Leonard Bacon.
Here’s Thurber’s original version, or at least the version as quoted by Max …
- 63.9k
4
votes
What does "as hot as the hinges of hell" mean in "The Green Mile"?
And turning I said: “Master,
what is the meaning of this harsh inscription?”
Dante Alighieri (1320). The Inferno, Canto III, lines 1–12. Translated by John Ciardi (1954). …
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3
votes
Meaning of "the matrons are very Sabines" in Fitzstephen's description of London
Sabine women were a byword for married virtue and chastity. Here are two examples from classical Latin writers with whom Fitzstephen was likely familiar:
But if a chaste wife, assisting on her par …
- 63.9k
2
votes
What is the meaning of the poem "Praxis" by Wendy Xu?
‘Praxis’ means:
the practice or exercise of a technical subject or art [OED]
and there are several references to writing and poetry: “put down in writing”; “pastoral description”; “do what your …
- 63.9k
10
votes
Accepted
Does D'Hubert rape the maid at the beginning of Joseph Conrad's 'The Duel'?
TL;DR: No.
Censorship
Until the second half of the 20th century, it was not easy to publish literature in English that described sex in detailed or explicit terms. In England, literature was censore …
- 63.9k
2
votes
What does "we are not careful" mean in this context?
The Hebrew word is חַשְׁחִ֨ין (ḥaš-ḥîn), the masculine plural participle of the verb חֲשַׁח (chashach) meaning “need”. …
- 63.9k
7
votes
Accepted
Meaning of "S. Epiph. her. 78" in the Douay-Rheims Bible (1635)
“S.Epiph.” is Saint Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 320–403) and “her.” is his book Against Heresies (c. 378), also known as the Panarion or “bread-basket”. The book catalogues 80 Christian groups or belief …
- 63.9k
4
votes
Accepted
What does "the master's body" mean in "The Great Gatsby"?
The paragraphs in the question follow a description of a heatwave:
The next day was broiling, almost the last, certainly the warmest, of the summer. As my train emerged from the tunnel into sunlight, …
- 63.9k
4
votes
Accepted
Who are the people Isaac Watts is talking about in "Improvement of the Mind"?
The name Sobrino is modelled on Italian sobrio meaning “sober, temperate”; the character follows the advice, and prospers. … In your other example, Lucidas is modelled on lucido meaning “bright, shining” and Scintillo is modelled on scintilla meaning “spark”. …
- 63.9k
1
vote
What does the "with eyes so dark" line of Halsey's "Graveyard" mean?
The singer describes being in a relationship with someone who is unhappy and self-destructive (“drunk at the steering wheel”) but loves them so much that she would follow them to destruction, as she d …
- 63.9k