37
votes
Accepted
Meaning of "the field was found to be plowed as thoroughly as any young man at Oxford" in 'The Book of Dragons'
This is a punning comparison, like
He lies like a rug,
He'll fold faster than a lawn chair.
We still use them in English, but they were considerably more common in previous centuries.
There's ...
- 11.6k
27
votes
Meaning of "the way they used to use up old women, in Russia, sweeping dirt" in "The Handmaid's Tale"
There was a perception in the West that elderly Russian women were frequently put to work sweeping the streets, presumably to supplement their meagre state pension. This view in encapsulated in a ...
- 8,861
16
votes
Accepted
Meaning of "furnished with a pipe and a supply of cold without" in Trollope's "Orley Farm"
Cold without refers to Mr Moulder's drink: brandy mixed with unsweetened cold water. The Oxford English Dictionary has the following entry for cold without:
colloquial.
Brandy or spirits in cold ...
- 22k
14
votes
Meaning of "the field was found to be plowed as thoroughly as any young man at Oxford" in 'The Book of Dragons'
Ploughed is British slang for drunk, documented as far back as Dickens, and still in local usage on both sides of the pond.
Drunken university students, especially young ones, are not uncommon and ...
- 250
8
votes
Accepted
Meaning of "Am I clear? Have I a certificate, or what have I to do to get one? And when will it be dated? You can't think what hangs by it!"
The certificate referred to is almost certainly the "Certificate of Conformity". This is an instrument introduced in English law as the "Statute of Anne" in 1705. Following ...
- 8,861
8
votes
Meaning of "My owners'll have to rank with the rest on their charter-party"?
Here's the situation with commercial shipping. You are a Norwegian timber merchant, with many planks of finest spruce to sell. You believe that you can make lots of money, if only you could deliver ...
- 1,474
6
votes
Accepted
Symbolism in saying that a grove, in the agitation of a storm, cannot be delineated from its picture in water
You're correct, Dr Johnson is saying that the meaning of common words such as "bear" or "run" is constantly evolving, such that trying to pin their meaning down in a dictionary is ...
- 22k
6
votes
Accepted
Meaning of "the way they used to use up old women, in Russia, sweeping dirt" in "The Handmaid's Tale"
I think there is a stereotype or literary trope (perhaps based in reality) of a Russian woman in a babushka sweeping up dust and dirt. Perhaps she is a widow from one of Russia's many wars, needing to ...
- 812
4
votes
What does Anthony Burgess mean about "the State is all that matters and no one has a right to hear Beethoven"?
Like a commenter, I also haven't read the book, but it reads like a passionate speech, which would explain the lack of punctuation - it's easy to imagine this being delivered by a very fired up ...
- 141
4
votes
Accepted
What is the meaning of Lord Vetinari's dungeon door in Terry Pratchett's "Guards! Guards!"?
The bolts and bars are separate mechanisms from the lock and are controlled by occupants of the cell. Just because someone or something on the outside has a key does not mean they can open the door.
...
- 18.6k
4
votes
Meaning of Shell, Remove, and Hundreds in Alice Winn's In Memoriam (and other novels with public school settings)
The OED gives this for ‘Shell’
The apsidal end of the school-room at Westminster School, so called from its conch-like shape. Hence, the name of the form (intermediate between the fifth and sixth) ...
- 18.6k
4
votes
Meaning of "My owners'll have to rank with the rest on their charter-party"?
The sentence you quote needs a bit of prefatory explanation to make its meaning clear. But in the process, I shall probably let drop major spoilers. Sadly ’Can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs’...
- 939
3
votes
Greek Alexander Romance - Plot device or other function of Alexander's surreptitious stealing of Persian drinking cups?
I don’t have access to the Penguin version, but from my reading of the online Greek to English Translation version here
the cups are not just of superior craftmanship they are gold as becomes evident ...
- 939
2
votes
Accepted
Meaning of “All spirits are enslaved that serve things evil” in "Prometheus Unbound"
Yes, your interpretation is correct. The line contains a couple of anastrophes, “figures of speech in which words or clauses in a sentence are inverted” (OED). In conventional order the line would be:
...
- 53.5k
2
votes
Meaning of "the way they used to use up old women, in Russia, sweeping dirt" in "The Handmaid's Tale"
Is it the use of use up? It means wear down completely here, making them work until their bodies are broken and they cannot work anymore (or "even better": die, so they don't cost anything ...
- 237
2
votes
What did Mrs. Lippett say to her?
The answer to your question is not immediately evident and lies below the surface as I shall explain.
First the brief answer to your question : Mrs Lippet told her ( Judy ) an untruth!
Now for some ...
- 939
1
vote
Does this edit in The Magician's Nephew (from "had her bathe" to "had her bath") fundamentally change the meaning of the sentence?
The word bathe in this context is presumably identical in meaning to the word bath. This can be demonstrated by looking at other instances in the series where the same term is used.
In Chapter Six of ...
- 3,198
1
vote
What are "abortive sorrows" and "short-winded elations" in "The Great Gatsby"?
I found Mary's answer very helpful; building on that, I ended up with this understanding:
Nick must have lost interest in men in general in their abortive sorrows (in their sorrows that fail to ...
- 11
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