Homemade tart

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Marius Hancu - 11 Jan 2007 11:49 GMT

Hello:

Is this "she's a homemade tart" a well-established pun?

-------
[Sibyl has been involved with many men. Now that she's pregnant and a
patternity suit seems to be in the offing, Jake wants to attack her
credibility in court, in order to save Tom, Boss's son, one of the
"candidates."]

This Sibyl Frey is a homemade tart and we can damned well prove
it. We'll have an entire football squad in there, plus a track team,
and all the truckers who run Highway 69 past her pappy's house.

All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren, p. 492
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Thank you.
Marius Hancu

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CDB - 11 Jan 2007 14:08 GMT

> Hello:
>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren, p. 492

It's not familiar to me. I'm not even certain what the second meaning
of "home-made" would be in that context: pimped, at least to the
truckers*, by her father? Further reading might confirm that, or not.
If not, maybe it's just an intensifier that also helps with the rhythm
of the sentence.

*The use of the indefinite article for the athletic teams (in each
case, then, one team out of a larger number of candidates) may
indicate that she hadn't just been volunteering at her school because
only the brave deserve the fair. Puts Pappy more firmly in the frame.

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007

Homemade tart