Gnatz

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Marius Hancu - 20 Jan 2004 06:24 GMT

Hello:

------------
[after a big fight with a fellow card player]
well, anyhow, there was nothing to drink and I sat there for hours,
going crazy; jumpy, I was, GNATZ, lumpy balls, there I sat with $450
easy money and I couldn't buy a draft beer.
[Charles Bukowski, Notes of a Dirty Old Man, p. 11]
------------

Questions:

- what is "gnatz"? couldn't find on the web, only German names; I know
Bukowski was born in Germany, still I don't think this is a German
word, but who knows ...; it could be a slang term of German origin;
- does "lumpy" mean, in this context, "swollen"?
- was the money "easy" because it had been won at cards?

Thanks for any pointers.
Marius Hancu

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Gary Vellenzer - 20 Jan 2004 12:09 GMT

> Hello:
>
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> - does "lumpy" mean, in this context, "swollen"?
> - was the money "easy" because it had been won at cards?

This is a guess: fancy spelling for "nuts", with the "g" silent as usual
if initial before "n", and the "a" pronounced as "uh" as it often is.

Did you know that "gneiss" (the rock) is synonymous with "nice"?

Gary

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david56 - 20 Jan 2004 12:19 GMT

Gary Vellenzer spake thus:

> Did you know that "gneiss" (the rock) is synonymous with "nice"?

ITYM homophonous.

Signature

David
=====

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Gary Vellenzer - 20 Jan 2004 15:29 GMT

> Gary Vellenzer spake thus:
>
> > Did you know that "gneiss" (the rock) is synonymous with "nice"?
>
> ITYM homophonous.

Yup. Typing before absorbing the first cup of coffee causes brainfarts
like that.

Gary

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Robert Lieblich - 20 Jan 2004 23:09 GMT

> Hello:
>
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> - does "lumpy" mean, in this context, "swollen"?
> - was the money "easy" because it had been won at cards?

I ran an Amazon search. Out of 16 total results (the book you are
reading was not one of them), the majority of mentions of "Gnatz"
were as a surname. There were also a few instances where it was
used as a shortening or nickname for "Ignatz." This left one
instance where it clearly was intended as an exclamation equivalent
to "nuts."

The context you gave us doesn't reveal which (if any) of these is
meant. Perhaps you can figure it out, or maybe you can offer some
more context.

Signature

Bob Lieblich
Who prefers "nertz"

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Christopher Green - 21 Jan 2004 00:19 GMT

> Hello:
>
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> Thanks for any pointers.
> Marius Hancu

I suspect it's just a made-up interjection. Bukowski could curse
fluently in English, German, and apparently Latin, but this isn't any
of those. If you read it out loud, it sounds like "nuts", only uglier,
and seems to connote the narrator's attitude.

Signature

Chris Green

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004

Gnatz