Morrison: he didn't have to get over

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Marius Hancu - 24 Jan 2010 21:32 GMT

Hello:

I wonder what is the meaning of each of these phrasals:
"to get over, to turn on, or up or even out"
in this context.

---
[These places feel all very comfortable/cozy and familiar to him; he's
not an outsider here]

Sitting in Susan Bird's room, lying with Sweet, eating with those men
at Vernell's table, he didn't have to get over, to turn on, or up or
even out.

Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon, p. 293
---
--
Thanks.

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Jerry Friedman - 24 Jan 2010 22:56 GMT

> Hello:
>
> I wonder what is the meaning of each of these phrasals:
> "to get over, to turn on, or up or even out"
> in this context.

"Get over" seems to mean "seduce". I thought I remembered it from
Walter Mosely:

"She said that you followed her and tried to get over on her at her
apartment."

/Bad Boy Brawly Brown/, p. 320.

I'm not sure what it means here, though.

"Should we make our hearts and minds into lies in order to get over?
In order to
serve? What about your daughter, the young girl who sees you grinning
like a fool at a man who is awful? Should she also swallow her pride
one day? Should she give in to his pressure?"

/Workin' on the Chain Gang/, apparently Mosley's book about the bad
results of American capitalism.

If you like /Song of Solomon/ and you like detective stories, you
might like Mosley.

"Turn on"--at that stage of history, possibly "use marijuana or other
drugs"

"Turn up"--be present (those people don't mind if he stays away for a
while)?

"Turn out"--dress up?

> ---
> [These places feel all very comfortable/cozy and familiar to him; he's
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon, p. 293

--
Jerry Friedman

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Frank ess - 25 Jan 2010 00:08 GMT

>> Hello:
>>
[quoted text clipped - 41 lines]
>>
>> Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon, p. 293

Isn't "turn out" what a pimp does when he puts a new girl on the
atreet?

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Frank ess

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Jerry Friedman - 25 Jan 2010 00:44 GMT

> >> Hello:
>
[quoted text clipped - 44 lines]
> Isn't "turn out" what a pimp does when he puts a new girl on the
> atreet?

So I've read, and maybe you've heard it from your former clients. But
would Milkman have been under pressure somewhere to pimp women out?

--
Jerry Friedman

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Frank ess - 25 Jan 2010 04:03 GMT

>>>> Hello:
>>
[quoted text clipped - 48 lines]
> But would Milkman have been under pressure somewhere to pimp women
> out?

It is a rather unlikely point on a trail through " ... to get over, to
turn on, or up ... " even though preceded by an "even"; if each is
increasingly divergent from Milkman's normally-expected behavior, not
implausable. That he "didn't have to" sets them apart from the
sitting-lying-eating that is apparently unremarkable and unpressing. I
don't know him well enough to guess whether or not "lying with sweet"
or "those men at Vernell's table" are indicators of conventionality
(or of a penchant for transient fantasies, or something else).

More likely: "Turn out" is also what people do to games, rallies,
meetings, and so on, a more inocuous locus on the path. "We always
hope for a big turnout". He doesn't have to show up.

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Frank ess

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2010

Morrison: he didn't have to get over