be in somebody's pocket

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to tell me whether I am right with my interpretation of the expressions in bold in the following sentence?

“Will this Mr. Quinsey confirm you?” “Philip Quinsey? Oh! Rather! He’s in my pocket.

be in somebody’s pocket = be dependent on somebody

Thanks for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

[philadelphia]

Pretty good, Vil. This means that "he has control over Mr. Quinsey", not always dependent but it may sometimes. In France we have got the same idiom: "J'ai Alice dans ma poche" = "Alice is in my pocket"

[vil]

As far as I know the sentence in question is from Galsworthy’s “The Silver Spoon”. In my humble opinion it is a gross provocation to bring written from him in question.

Here is another example of usage of the key phrase:

Edwards, the last man called, was absent a long, a very long time. He came out smiling broadly, his look plainly saying: ”Sorry for you, fellows. This is in my pocket.” (A.J.Cronin “The Citadel”)

be in somebody’s pocket = in the hands of, at the mercy of, rests with….

V.