Oct 27, 2005 11:54
18 yrs ago
English term
"Lost it? Did you? Inside?"
English
Art/Literary
Other
It's a novel. The main character is cheated by a girl who makes him buy a thousand pound engagement ring and then goes away. The problem is he had borrowed the money from a not-so-nice person, and now he has to explain him what has happened...
"He postponed seeing S. for a week. By that time, any last hopes of his fiancé’s miraculous reappearance had vanished as surely as the engagement ring. He went to S.'s house and told him what had happened.
“Stitched up,” S. said. “By a wee girl, eh?” He shook his head. ***** “Lost it, did you, P.? Inside?” ***** He pursed his lips. “What did you have in mind?”
“I thought, maybe, I could work off the debt.”
“Let me think about it.” "
I posted this question also in the English-Italian pair, but I would like to know your opinion about how this "Inside" can be interpreted. Thank you so much in advance for any suggestion! S.
"He postponed seeing S. for a week. By that time, any last hopes of his fiancé’s miraculous reappearance had vanished as surely as the engagement ring. He went to S.'s house and told him what had happened.
“Stitched up,” S. said. “By a wee girl, eh?” He shook his head. ***** “Lost it, did you, P.? Inside?” ***** He pursed his lips. “What did you have in mind?”
“I thought, maybe, I could work off the debt.”
“Let me think about it.” "
I posted this question also in the English-Italian pair, but I would like to know your opinion about how this "Inside" can be interpreted. Thank you so much in advance for any suggestion! S.
Responses
| 3 +5 | Prison |
Jane Gabbutt
|
| 2 +4 | in[side] your head |
Ian M-H (X)
|
| 4 | Heart? |
John Bowden
|
| 2 +1 | Would you like to come inside? |
Rachel Vanarsdall
|
Responses
+5
4 mins
Selected
Prison
Without further context, I may be way out here but "Inside" could refer to prison. S is asking whether P "lost it" i.e. lost his touch, went a bit soft, got less street-wise (if you like) while "inside" - in prison.
Just a thought.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 mins (2005-10-27 12:00:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
So what I meant was, maybe P was in prison before he had the whole incident with the girl and the engagement ring?
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs 37 mins (2005-10-27 15:32:30 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Correct me if I'm wrong Stefano, but it looks like the character in question has just spent 10 years in prison for murder. In which case, inside can refer to nothing but prison.
Just a thought.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 mins (2005-10-27 12:00:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
So what I meant was, maybe P was in prison before he had the whole incident with the girl and the engagement ring?
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs 37 mins (2005-10-27 15:32:30 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Correct me if I'm wrong Stefano, but it looks like the character in question has just spent 10 years in prison for murder. In which case, inside can refer to nothing but prison.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
CMJ_Trans (X)
: the only logical solution
14 mins
|
| agree |
Ian M-H (X)
: one of two options, I think
25 mins
|
| agree |
jennifer newsome (X)
1 hr
|
| agree |
Tania Marques-Cardoso
3 hrs
|
| disagree |
Can Altinbay
: I don't know where in the text you find anything that has to do with prison. Going there might be a consequence, but surely that's not what the guy is talking about in "lost it ... inside"!
4 hrs
|
|
I should have been more specific. I put some of the text into Google and found it was an excerpt from Two-way Split by Allan Guthrie. The Pearce character in this book spent 10 years in prison for murder.
|
|
| agree |
Terry Gilman
: If the wider context includes 10 years in prison, then "inside" = "in prison" is a distinct possibility
5 hrs
|
| agree |
Josephine79
: I think this is from "Two-way split" by Allan Guthrie, Can, which is how Jane knows the character, Pearce, has been in prison for ten years. So yes, "inside", means he lost his sense of judgement in gaol.
6 hrs
|
|
Yep, see above.
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Sorry for my delay, and thanks a lot to all of you for your participation. Yes, it has to do with prison, so that's the right interpretation. Thanks again! "
+4
30 mins
English term (edited):
inside
in[side] your head
Jane could well be right here, and her suggestion is the first thing I thought of as well. But if there's no reference to prison then it's also possible that the speaker means that the other person "lost it" 'mentally' - lost his nerve, stopped thinking straight...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 33 mins (2005-10-27 12:27:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Longer version: the character allegedly "lost it in the head" because of his infatuation with the girl he became engaged to and spent more than he could afford on the ring.
But Jane's suggestion should be considered if there is any reference at all to P having been in prison.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 33 mins (2005-10-27 12:27:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Longer version: the character allegedly "lost it in the head" because of his infatuation with the girl he became engaged to and spent more than he could afford on the ring.
But Jane's suggestion should be considered if there is any reference at all to P having been in prison.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Jane Gabbutt
: Good suggestion Ian, but maybe S would have said something more like "Up there?" if he was referring to P losing it in his head? Just a thought.
9 mins
|
|
Yes, it's certainly not clear-cut (which is why I set my confidence level to very low!).
|
|
| agree |
Armorel Young
: yes, I think this is it, and the "it" that has been lost is not so much the money as P. "losing the plot" and getting carried away
1 hr
|
| agree |
Refugio
: My intuition says this is it.
1 hr
|
| agree |
Can Altinbay
: "Heart" is not a bad interpretation, but this one is the most likely.
3 hrs
|
1 hr
Heart?
Maybe "lost it...inside" refers to the character "losing his heart" to the girl, i.e. falling in love with her to such an extent that his "heart ruled his head", and she was able to "stitch him up", i.e. trick him.
The moneylender's way of talking is very terse and short, but the 3 sections of the utterance seem to be:
1. "So she stitched you up, did she?"
2. "You lost your heart to her, did you?"
3. "What do you intend to do to sort the situation out and pay me the money you owe me?"
HTH
The moneylender's way of talking is very terse and short, but the 3 sections of the utterance seem to be:
1. "So she stitched you up, did she?"
2. "You lost your heart to her, did you?"
3. "What do you intend to do to sort the situation out and pay me the money you owe me?"
HTH
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Ian M-H (X)
: The "heart" idea doesn't strike me as very plausible, unless it's a dialect usage that I'm not familiar with. I grant you that it's a possibility, but isn't confidence level 4 pushing it a bit?
53 mins
|
|
Actually, I meant to click 2 or 3, but obviously aimed wrong!
|
+1
1 hr
English term (edited):
Inside?
Would you like to come inside?
That's all I can think of.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Can Altinbay
: Come to think of it, this suggestion makes some sense. He might be telling the other person to come inside. More context would help here.
2 hrs
|
Discussion