[Vocabulary] to clear on a boat

[suprunp]

I’ve got to clear on a boat that’s going to Frisco.’
[...]
‘I guess it ain’t very convenient for me to go to Frisco just now. I went to see the governor yesterday afternoon, but I couldn’t get to him.
(W.S. Maugham; Rain)

Does it mean that she has to evade going aboard that ship?

Thanks.

 

[SlickVic9000]

(Not a Teacher)

I'm not familiar with that phrase, but I'm going to venture a guess that he's trying to be cleared by customs to get on that boat.

 

[suprunp]

My apologies if I didn't provide enough of context.

The girl that says it must (the governor has given an order) board a ship that's going to San Francisco, but she doesn't want to and would rather board the next ship to Sydney.

Thanks.

 

[5jj]

It could mean that she has to clear (leave) the place she is in at present.

 

[bhaisahab]

I am surprised that you should hate fiction, Parser, that distances you from some of the greatest writing in the world.

 

[susiedq]

I agree with Slick.

It probably means to get clearance to board the ship.

 

[suprunp]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

(Of course, I shall delete my first post.)

I, for one, do not think you should have deleted your post. It represents a different view of the situation.

Incidentally, her words were these "‘A feller’s just been in here and he says I gotter beat it on the next boat.’

 

[5jj]

Incidentally, her words were these "‘A feller’s just been in here and he says I gotter beat it on the next boat.’

This appears to suggest that my reading of' I’ve got to clear on a boat that’s going to Frisco’ as meaning that she has to leave is correct.

 

[JMurray]

I haven't seen it before in this shortened form but my first thought was similar to 5jj's, that it meant she had to "clear out", that is, to leave and probably in a hurry.
"I was at my girlfriend's place when her father came home and told me to clear out and not come back".

not a teacher

 

[5jj]

I haven't seen it before in this shortened form

Neither have I, but it is the only interpretation that seems to fit here. Some of Maugham's characters,especially the 'not quite our sort of people' and speakers of non-RP varieties of English came out with some unusual constructions at times.

 

[TheParser]

As the young people say, OMG!

And as we old people say, I GIVE UP!

The latest posters have persuaded me to change my mind again.

Many thanks to Suprunp for starting this stimulating discussion:

(a) I have realized what a poor reader I am.

(b) I have realized that I should be super careful in the future before posting my two cents.

(c) I have realized how wise usingenglish.com is in requiring people like me to

start an answer with NOT A TEACHER.

(Oh, well, back to the deletion button.)

 

[5jj]

(Oh, well, back to the deletion button.)

Please, no. Answers that are not completely correct can be useful for people to see how misunderstandings can arise. That is particularly true in this thread, in which we are still not 100% clear what the original words meant. It is reassuring for learners to know that it is not always their ignorance that causes their lack of comprehension; native speakers can be unsure too.

If native speakers delete posts in which they have made a mistake/misjudgement, then learners may come to the erroneous idea that everything that native speakers write or say is 'correct', and that native speakers understand everything that is written/said in English.