A reader wrote to me with a whole lot of questions from a book she was reading. Instead of putting the questions in italics, I'll just put CK: in front of my answers.
Here we go!
I am reading a book, and here’s the problems I’ve encountered during reading. The word or phrases I don’t understand are underlined, and the sentences in the parenthesis are about the context which the sentences are, or the general meaning I guess.
1. (A girl, named Kerry, is timing her brother, Arlo, to see how fast he could eat a banana. This is a sentence she says during the timing.)
‘FORTY-EIGHT SECONDS AND COUNTING..’
CK:
This is the way American spaceships are launched: counting down second by second. In this case, Kerry is telling her brother that time is slipping away.
2. I’ll be zippered into a hot dog bun before my sister tells me what I can’t do.
CK:
In other words, I will become a hot dog--a kind of sausage--before I listen to my sister. So my sister's commands don't mean anything to me.
3. You get it (food) from your plate to your mouth very fast if it’s something you like and you want seconds.
CK:
You eat too quickly. "Seconds" means another portion of the food that was on your plate before you ate it.
4. (Arlo says angrily to her brother)
‘ Pig feathers, John.’
CK:
Pigs don't have feathers, so Arlo is saying "Nonsense! What you say is wrong!" The usual expression, however, is "Horse feathers!"
5. He fights a never-ending battle with the evil pimple forces of the deep.
CK:
As a teenage boy, he has a lot of pimples on his face, and he tries to cure them with different treatments. "The deep" can mean the very deep ocean (a dangerous, evil place) or even Hell.
6. And last, but not least...
CK:
Usually we mention the most important thing first. When we say "last but not least," we want people to respect the last thing as much as the first things we mentioned.
7. Ace lady’s man.
CK:
Ace is the most valuable card in most card games, so an "ace" is someone who is very good--an ace pilot, an ace dog-trainer, and so on. A lady's man is one who pays attention to women and who is popular with women. (That doesn't mean he likes them--he just likes to seduce them!)
8. (I guess it refers to someone who is not sure about hearing something right or wrong)
My ears must be full of orange juice.
CK:
You're right.
9. A man with thick glasses and no suntan.
CK:
Someone who stays indoors reading, and who doesn't like to be out doing things in the sunshine.
10. (I guess the names beginning with big letters are made by the hero of the novel and are not real names)
I could be Xexus, superalien, bionic banana-eater from the planet Zoidtron.
CK:
They are not real names, but they sound like the names in science-fiction stories. "Superalien" means "powerful creature from another world." "Bionic" means a human with mechanical help built in--like eyes that can work like telescopes, or ears that can hear very faint sounds.
11. (Arlo is dreaming about) being the light-speed restaurants of the universe.
CK:
I'm guessing: if some restaurants offer "fast food," then a light-speed restaurant serves your food the moment you want it.
12. She’s short and wide, which makes her look a lot like Japanese sumo wrestler with a dress on.
CK:
Sumo wrestlers are very big and heavy. The comparison is supposed to make the girl sound very unattractive.
13. (I guess the author wants to explain that Kerry is very angry) She has gone off the deep end of the bathtub.
CK:
To "go off the deep end" of a swimming pool means to get into trouble--at least if you can't swim! The "deep end" of a bathtub is not very deep, so anyone who can't survive in a bathtub is not very capable.
14. My curly-headed wonder of a sister…
CK:
"Curly-headed" means her hair has lots of curls. This sounds like a critical comment by a sarcastic sister.
15. Red alert!
CK:
In the military, this means the enemy is attacking. Everyone should get ready for a big fight!
16. (Mike, a friend of Arlo, wants to break the record of eating ice cream) He has asked for ‘quiet on the set’ so he can concentrate on his speed eating.
CK:
When people are making a movie, and recording the dialogue of the actors, the director says "Quiet on the set" so the recording will have only the actor's speech--not the noise made by the movie crew who are working nearby.
17. …Pull the crust off your sandwich.
CK:
Some people don't like the crust on bread, so they cut it off. But this sounds like someone dominating someone else.
18. (I guess, in this context, it refers to terrifying or being very impressed) Oh, boy. I’ve really blown it…
CK:
When you "blow it," you've failed badly. "I really blew the English quiz." "I went to the job interview, but I got nervous and blew it."
19. Sitting in the office waiting to see the principal is like having Christmas backward – there’s going to be a surprise for me, but I don’t think it’s going to be a good one.
CK:
Christmas presents are supposed to be a surprise--you hide them from the people you're giving them to. But they're always good presents. Seeing the principal of the school is going to be an unhappy surprise.
20. (Does it have any meaning or it’s just an interjection?) Gazonk!
CK:
It's an interjection. It's supposed a sudden loud noise that's also a little silly.
21. (Does it have any meaning or it’s just an interjection?) Shisk, boom, bah!
CK:
This is a form of an old cheer for American football games: "Harvard, Harvard, rah rah rah! Harvard, Harvard, sis boom bah!"
22. She is bouncing around like a set of rubber lips.
CK:
"Rubber lips" are a kind of joke, like false eyeglasses with a false nose and moustache attached. The purpose is to make the person who wears them look silly.
23. She looks like an archery bow with big lips.
CK:
I'm not sure about this one--maybe she has a narrow waist between large breasts and large hips...and big lips!
24. She snaps forward like a band of steel.
CK:
This sounds like a variation of "snaps shut like a steel trap"--catching someone or something so they can't escape.
25. Way to go!
CK:
A very common North American expression. It's short for "That is the way to go!" It means "You are doing the right thing--I admire you!"
26. (Is it a kind of synonym for What the Hell?) What in the name of monkey’s elbow is he talking about?
CK:
I haven't heard "monkey's elbow" before, but you guessed right!
27. (Now, Arlo has failed in breaking the record of eating banana and is expressing himself in an ‘epilogue’. I don’t understand the grammar of this sentence, though there’s no unknown word in it)
No Cramming bananas down my throat, No indigestion,. No weird me driving my fifth-grade brain bananas.
CK:
It sounds as if he is glad he failed. Now he doesn't have to make himself eat more bananas than he wants. His stomach doesn't hurt. "Weird me" means some part of his own personality that makes him do crazy things. "Fifth-grade brain" means he is in the fifth grade (about 9 or 10 years old). And when we drive someone bananas, we are making them act crazy, like chimpanzees who eat lots of bananas.
My last question about this book is about its dedication page. It says:
to Nan, who helped get the bump off the log
M.K. Wren, who taught the bump how to write
and most of all to my wife, Debbie, who believed in bumpy logs from the very beginning
what is the meaning of BUMP, GET THE BUMP OF THE LOG, and BUMPY LOGS in this text?
CK:
A "bump on a log" means a lazy person who doesn't do anything: "Why do you sit there like a bump on a log?" So the author is saying he was a bump, a lazy person, but the other people believed in him, taught him how to write, and made him do useful things.
Well--a lot of questions, but they were fun!
The shape of an archery bow looks like a big lip.
>23. She looks like an archery >bow with big lips.
>CK:
>I'm not sure about this one-->maybe she has a narrow waist >between large breasts and large >hips...and big lips!
Posted by: AReader | October 11, 2005 at 01:05 PM
I think you're right!
Posted by: Crawford Kilian | October 13, 2005 at 07:38 PM
Dear Sir,
Could you tell me whether the sentence: 'I don't like both of them' is correct?
I know that: ' I don't like either of them' is better but can I use the first option?
Best regards,
Ala
Posted by: Ala | October 19, 2005 at 11:39 PM
Hi, Ala--
We would use "both" when the statement is positive: "I love both of them." When the statement is negative, we use "either": "I don't like either of them."
Thanks for a good question!
Crawford
Posted by: Crawford Kilian | October 21, 2005 at 05:34 PM