What's the meaning of the underlined?

[Eartha]

Dear all,

What's the meaning of the underlined?
Thanks in advance.


He was a sweet soul, my grandfather, but when the brains were passed out he must have been absent. I still marvel how Grandmother could raise a family on his earnings....
...
We all lived in one little house and we were a scrawny lot. Nobody ever had to coax any of us children to eat. In fact, after having had lunch at my mother’s, I would go upstairs to Grandmother and have another one. And then I could visit Aunt Bertha[FONT=宋体]，[/FONT]who lived a few doors away, and eat some more.

 

[english-nation]

"when the brains were passed out" is a sarcastic way of saying that he doesn't have a brain. The phrase is suggesting that someone was handing out brains to all individuals. The subject person was not there at this time and did not get a brain.

"a scrawny lot" is saying they are a scrawny group. Lot is another word for group or bunch. Scrawny means they are weak-looking or thin.

Pat