Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: Can anybody help

  1. #1
    Завсегдатай Ramil's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Other Universe
    Posts
    8,499
    Rep Power
    30

    Can anybody help

    I'm reading Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut and I'm not sure about this fragment. Can anybody clarify this for me:

    There was a still life on Billy's bedside table -- two pills, an ashtray with three lipstick-stained cigarettes in it, one cigarette still burning, and a glass of water. The water was dead. So it goes. Air was trying to get out of that dead water. Bubbles were clinging to the walls of the glass, too weak to climb out.
    The cigarettes belonged to Billy's chain-smoking mother. She had sought the ladies' room, which was off the ward for WACS and WAVES, and SPARS and WAFS who had gone bananas. She would be back at any moment now.


    I have no idea on what the blue text is about...

    And am I guessing right that chain-smoking means smoking cigarettes one after another without any breaks?
    Send me a PM if you need me.

  2. #2
    Почтенный гражданин capecoddah's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Cape Cod, MA пляж
    Posts
    648
    Rep Power
    13
    They were Women's branches of the US military during WWII. WAVES and SPARS were Navy, WAFS were Army Air Corps
    Congratulations finding Kurt. He used to live near me on Cape Cod, a few miles down route 6A. Some of the places he speaks of are very close to my house. "Welcome to the Monkey House" takes place in Hyannis, MA... It used to be a "Howard Johnson's".. more if you wish

    You got chain smoking about right... If you light a new cigarette from an old cigarette, that is chain-smoking.

    "gone bannas" means went slightly crazy/insane
    I'm easily amused late at night...

  3. #3
    Завсегдатай Ramil's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Other Universe
    Posts
    8,499
    Rep Power
    30
    What about bananas thing?
    Send me a PM if you need me.

  4. #4
    Почтенный гражданин capecoddah's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Cape Cod, MA пляж
    Posts
    648
    Rep Power
    13
    Bannanas = small crazy
    I'm easily amused late at night...

  5. #5
    Почтенный гражданин
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Spokane, Washington, USA
    Posts
    305
    Rep Power
    13
    I think crazy in this way:
    go bananas to become uncontrollably or unreasonably angry or excited (slang)
    Encarta(R) World English Dictionary [North American Edition] (2007) http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/bananas.html

  6. #6
    Завсегдатай Ramil's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Other Universe
    Posts
    8,499
    Rep Power
    30
    Thanks, that phrase has really got me baffled
    Send me a PM if you need me.

  7. #7
    Почтенный гражданин
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Spokane, Washington, USA
    Posts
    305
    Rep Power
    13
    Here is a more complete explanation:
    go bananas . . . To be or go crazy; to lose one's mind; to get excited.
    Example:
    Come quick! Your brother has gone bananas.
    Etymology:
    This saying comes from 20th century America. Bananas are the food most associated with monkeys. When people think of monkeys ("monke business", "more fun than a barrelful of monkeys," etc.) they think of silly, uncontrolled behavior. If a person is in a weird mood because he or she feels frustrated or bored with a situation, he or she might "go bananas" and start acting like a monkey.
    Synonyms: freak out, go ape, go ballistic
    Belinsky, Natalia, Glossary of Colloquialisms http://www.translationdirectory.com/glo ... y014_g.htm

  8. #8
    Почётный участник
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    74
    Rep Power
    12
    Slaughterhouse 5. The number of the abatoir in which the prisoners sheltered from the bombing of Dresden.

  9. #9
    Завсегдатай Ramil's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Other Universe
    Posts
    8,499
    Rep Power
    30
    Quote Originally Posted by Dave T
    Slaughterhouse 5. The number of the abatoir in which the prisoners sheltered from the bombing of Dresden.
    Yes, slaughterhouse that is. Been absentminded, the book was right in front of my eyes but I'd managed to write the title wrong somehow
    Send me a PM if you need me.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  


Russian Lessons                           

Russian Tests and Quizzes            

Russian Vocabulary