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Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010Louis L'Amour's 'Tucker' - euchred and pa!
Just started this book (a Western) and was very impressed with the phrase, IIRC, 'We was euchred'! Looked it up in my Concise Oxford Dictionary and it's to do with a card game. 'Tucker' is written in the first person and he refers to his pa quite a lot. If, for example, you said, 'My pa brung me up right', a small 'p' would be correct, IMHO. If you said, 'I always looked up to pa', shouldn't 'pa' be capitalised? It's not in this book. Nick from England > Just started this book (a Western) and was very impressed with the > phrase, IIRC, [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Looked it up in my Concise Oxford Dictionary and it's to do with a > card game. Wikipedia knows all about it. The expression is common in literature of the period and literature about the period. Not to mention in the person of Ivan Skovinsky Skovar, nemesis of Abdul the Bulbul Amir (1877): He could imitate Irving, play Euchre and pool And perform on the Spanish Guitar. > 'Tucker' is written in the first person and he refers to his pa quite > a lot. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > shouldn't 'pa' be capitalised? I'd say so. Does the book have the three-legged talking dog who went to the sheriff's office and said "I'm looking for my paw"?  SignatureJohn Dean Oxford > > Just started this book (a Western) and was very impressed with the > > phrase, IIRC, [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > He could imitate Irving, play Euchre and pool > And perform on the Spanish Guitar. Thanks for that - very interesting. I learned that song from a book of North American songs collected by John Lomax -his version goes, IIRC... # He could sing like Caruso, tell fortunes with cards # And play on the Spanish Guitar so if Ivan could do all of those things from both versions, he must have been a very accomplished Russian! > > 'Tucker' is written in the first person and he refers to his pa quite > > a lot. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > I'd say so. Thanks - glad you agree. > Does the book have the three-legged talking dog who went to the sheriff's > office and said "I'm looking for my paw"? > -- <g> Oddly, Louis L'Amour refers to horses standing three-legged - I having looked into that yet. Nick from England > <g> Oddly, Louis L'Amour refers to horses standing three-legged - I > having looked into that yet. I'd say either the horse was lame or the rider had snubbed one leg up to stop it galloping away. SignatureJohn Dean Oxford > > <g> Oddly, Louis L'Amour refers to horses standing three-legged - I > > having looked into that yet. > > I'd say either the horse was lame or the rider had snubbed one leg up to > stop it galloping away. > -- Thanks. I would think it was the latter as L'Amour uses the expression for at least two different horses. I can't ever remember seeing that in the movies - they just wrap the reins round the hitching pole in a rather casual fashion and the horses are polite enought to stay! :-D Nick from England >> > <g> Oddly, Louis L'Amour refers to horses standing three-legged - I >> > having looked into that yet. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >reins round the hitching pole in a rather casual fashion and the >horses are polite enought to stay! :-D I've read an "explanation" of how that works. Apparently it is important when wrapping the reins round the horizontal bar to ensure that there is a sufficient length of the free ends hanging to keep the part wrapped round the bar tight rather than loose. If the horse tugs on the reins they tighten round the bar even more. This does rely on adequate friction between reins and bar. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.english.usage) On Feb 12, 3:25 pm, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> wrote: > On Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:55:07 -0800 (PST), Nick > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > -- Thanks, Peter - that's very interesting. I shall watch closely the next time I see a Western on TV - I'm sure now they wrap their reins in the correct manner and it just looks casual! Nick from England >> > <g> Oddly, Louis L'Amour refers to horses standing three-legged - >> > I [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > reins round the hitching pole in a rather casual fashion and the > horses are polite enought to stay! :-D Horses frequently stand "hip-shot", with their weight on the forefeet and one of the hind feet, while the other hind foot takes a rest, with perhaps just the "toe" of the hoof touching the ground. That is the image I get as Nick quotes L'Amour. Context might determine otherwise, of course. The image of a very relaxed, even sleeping horse in the heat of the day, though, is what I picture. > >> > <g> Oddly, Louis L'Amour refers to horses standing three-legged - > >> > I [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > relaxed, even sleeping horse in the heat of the day, though, is what I > picture. Thanks, Pat - I think you've cracked it. L'Amour's Tucker checks the horses tethered in towns he visits - he's looking for his father's stolen horse, so it's quite likely that the odd horse would be relaxing or sleeping in the heat of the day. Nick from England > >> > <g> Oddly, Louis L'Amour refers to horses standing three-legged - > >> > I [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > relaxed, even sleeping horse in the heat of the day, though, is what I > picture. Just read a bit where Tucker (it's written in the first person) describes his horse as closing his eyes and dozing three-legged, so you're spot on! :-) Nick from England |
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