The tired hay

[Aleksey]

Hi everyone,


I'm translating a short story by Irish writer Colum McCann and I can't understand the meaning of one phrase. I would really appreciate your help.


It's a realistic story set in a small Irish town in the sixties. The protagonist describes his friends in an informal way. He says “Some of my friends were working in the chipper, other were bringing in the tired hay, and a couple of them were selling golf balls down at the club”.


What does “bringing in the tired hay”mean? Is it a figure of speech or is it about the specific type of hay?


Thanks for your help!


Alex

[GoesStation]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

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[GoesStation]

My guess is that the hay was old and in less-than-perfect condition.

[Aleksey]

Yes, that makes sense. Thanks a lot!

[GoesStation]

The gratitude is appreciated, but we prefer that you just click "Thank". It's more efficient.

[PeterCW]

In traditional hay making the grass is cut and left to dry on the ground before being gathered. I would assume that this is an Irish dialect expression meaning that the hay has dried sufficiently.

[emsr2d2]

Not a teacher

I know this idiom: I have to get up early for work tomorrow, so I think I'd better hit the hay.

I think the previous commenter is right; it means a herb that the hay has dried sufficiently.

Please note my corrections (in red) above. The words I have marked in blue don't make sense there. What did you mean?

Please also note that I have added "Not a teacher" to the top of your response. Whilst it is good that you want to help other learners, you must make it clear in your responses that you are not a teacher. Once you have made ten public posts on the forum, you will be able to add a signature line that makes it clear instead.

[emsr2d2]

Thanks a lot for your corrections! Now I understand know that I did the right thing that I did register by registering.

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