[Anglika]

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Originally Posted by AndrejP

Hello everybody
I am doing a translation of F. Chappel for school (into slovak) and i got stuck at these sentences:

"I was out the door like a sprinter off his chock and down through the yard. Suddenly the trees had shadows and my own shadow was fleet before me. They had snapped on the lights in the house..." - does fleet before me mean the shadow was way before me or that it was really close? It was running fast in front of me

and

"Uncle Luden began chewing his mustache. First he nibbled at the patch beneath his nose but it obviously wasn´t altogether satisfying and he dragged the left side of his lip down and his lower teeth went along the gray-black bristles like pinking shears. - How am i supposed to understand this? Could anyone describe it a bit more clearly? I just can´t think of any appropriate metaphor. Pinking shears are scissors used in tailoring and dressmaking, which have jagged edges. This is a vivid description of someone nibbling at his upper lip and moustache, whose teeth are probably a bit uneven. Try doing it and you will see!

This link shows pinking shears: http://tinyurl.com/6gmk26

Thank you

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