Scramble to one's feet

[karitaru]

What is meant by "scramble to one's feet"?

In addition what does the speaker mean by saying "'Twould 'a' ben a dum sight better, all around, if they'd started him along last summer."

This statement can be found in "The Invalid's Story"


Thank you.

[BobK]

Originally Posted by karitaru

What is meant by "scramble to one's feet"?
In addition what does the speaker mean by saying "'Twould 'a' ben a dum sight better, all around, if they'd started him along last summer."
This statement can be found in "The Invalid's Story"
Thank you.

To "scramble to one's feet" is to rise hastily and/or with untidy movements from a seated or semi-recumbent position: "When his boss appeared, Jo scrambled to his feet and hid the cigarette behind his back".

As to the longer quotation, I'm not sure about the last clause, but "'Twould 'a' ben a dum sight better, all around" means 'It would have been a damned sight [i.e. "very much"] better, taking everything into consideration [or "for everyone concerned"]..." . In the last clause, either 'to start someone along' is a dialect phrasal verb that I haven't met, or "along last summer" is to be read as a whole - in which case the clause means '... if they had started him [at what, I don't know] round about the beginning of last summer.'

Best I can do, I'm afraid.

b

[Ouisch]

I gave The Invalid's Story a quick read...


"'Twould 'a' ben a dum sight better, all around, if they'd started him along last summer." This remark was made by the railway worker to the man who thought he had a box full of weapons. The railway man thought the box contained a corpse, however. The box was emitting a foul odor, which the railway man thought was a decomposing body. That's why he said that they should have started shipping the box a long time ago - last summer - before it had rotted away so badly. Of course, we find out later in the story that the box contains neither guns nor dead body; it was filled with Limburger cheese.

[karitaru]

Thank you BobK and Ouisch, the picture is clear now.
By the way, Ouisch, the box is not full of cheese, it is full of weapons, and the cheese is on top of the box and it actually belongs to the sinful railway man.


Thank you again.