[General] American old slang

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Hello,


I am trying to translate one of Ring Lardner's short stories, The Golden Honeymoon, for my graduation thesis, and I had some difficulties with the old slang he uses in his work. I have a few words and idioms, and although I found the basic explanation for them, I need some further assistance in establishing the right description for these concepts, so I can find the right equivalent.

1. "For a present my son-in-law paid the difference between a section and a compartment so as we could have a compartment and have more privatecy. In a compartment you have an upper and lower berth just like the regular sleeper, but it is a shut in room by itself and got a wash bowl. The car we went in was all compartments and no regular berths at all."

I can't seem to fully understand what is the difference between these two.

2. "Hartsell and his wife lived in a house on Third Avenue North and had a private setting room besides their bedroom."

Is this the same as a living room?

3. "A woman named Mrs. Oxford rendered some selections which Mrs. Hartsell said was grand opera music, but whatever they was my daughter Edie could of give her cards and spades and not made such a hullaballoo about it neither."

4. "When Hartsell pitches, he has got to chew and it kept the ladies on the anxious seat as he don't seem to care which way he is facing when he leaves go."

Does this refer to spitting in the "ladies" direction?

Thank you in advance and I hope that someone will be kind enough to help me with these small problems!
 

Gillnetter

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Hello,


I am trying to translate one of Ring Lardner's short stories, The Golden Honeymoon, for my graduation thesis, and I had some difficulties with the old slang he uses in his work. I have a few words and idioms, and although I found the basic explanation for them, I need some further assistance in establishing the right description for these concepts, so I can find the right equivalent.
(These are not slang terms as such, they are descriptive terms which are still in use today)

1. "For a present my son-in-law paid the difference between a section and a compartment so as we could have a compartment and have more privatecy. In a compartment you have an upper and lower berth just like the regular sleeper, but it is a shut in room by itself and got a wash bowl. The car we went in was all compartments and no regular berths at all."
(A section here refers to seats on a train which can be moved to that they become beds in the evening. The "compartment" here is another word for a private room. There is only a curtain between the aisle and the sleeping area of a section while there is a hard wall in a compartment.)

I can't seem to fully understand what is the difference between these two.

2. "Hartsell and his wife lived in a house on Third Avenue North and had a private setting room besides their bedroom."
(Next to the bedroom is another room. This other room is called a setting room. A setting room is a space which is designed to be used for entertaining guests or for people to sit and relax in. A living room is generally larger than a setting room)

Is this the same as a living room?

3. "A woman named Mrs. Oxford rendered some selections which Mrs. Hartsell said was grand opera music, but whatever they was my daughter Edie could of give her cards and spades and not made such a hullaballoo about it neither."

4. "When Hartsell pitches, he has got to chew and it kept the ladies on the anxious seat as he don't seem to care which way he is facing when he leaves go."

Does this refer to spitting in the "ladies" direction? (You are correct is thinking that "leaves go" refers to spitting but the text says that he doesn't care about the direction he spits in)

Thank you in advance and I hope that someone will be kind enough to help me with these small problems!
Gil
 

probus

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The like function is apparently unavailable in the android app. So I say thanks gil. I learned a lot.
 
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