to strain to make 5'3

[IQU3838]

Hi there,

Could you help me out with the following two underlined parts?
THank you.

"My Aunty loved to eat. She once topped out at a sturdy 215 ponds, though she would have to strain to make 5'3. Over time, her food desires haikued to a two-minute egg, soft Italian white bread with black raspberry jam, and lukewarm milk."

Thanks in advance.

[Tomasz Klimkiewicz]

*** NOT A TEACHER***

Dear IQU3838,

Please allow me to offer an explanation to the doubt-arousing phrases indicated in your post:

"...she would have to strain to make 5'3..." she would have to make a real effort to stretch her body to a height of 5 feet 3 inches; she was a short person, below 1.60 m metric.

"...her food desires haikued to a two-minute egg, soft Italian white bread with black raspberry jam..." haiku is a form of Japanese poetry, a verse typically consisting of three lines; here the word is used as a verb: in this context it can be interpreted as that person's food needs being restricted to the three simple components mentioned in the next part of the sentence.

I'll be really glad if my explanations prove useful.

Regards - Tomasz

[TheParser]

TheParser: sorry, I didn't see your reply, really, your typing seems quite a bit faster than mine

Your answer is far superior to mine. (Thanks for teaching me about the

haiku.) I have deleted my post. I want the thread starter and all

visitors to have the most accurate information. After all, that is the

goal of usingenglish.com.

[Tomasz Klimkiewicz]

Thank you, TheParser, I also deleted my next post as it had become totally irrelevant... I think your reply was very informative, too, the gist of both our replies being quite similar

[SoothingDave]

It should be mentioned that "haiku" is not actually a verb. The author is taking some artistic license here.