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Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010Hiaasen: go soft on me
Hello: Does "don't let this moron go soft on me" mean "don't let him become a softie right now when I need him?" ---- [Tool, Red's bodyguard, seems to have a moment of passing weakness while looking at the final resting place of a highway driver, dead in a head-on colision, exactly at the time when Red needs his bruising qualities] "Mercy." Red thinking: Lord, please don't let this moron go soft on me. Tool gestured at the wooden cross. "Least he was a 'husband, father, son, brother' -- I ain't _none_ of those things." Carl Hiaasen, Skinny Dip, p. 333 ---- -- Thanks. Marius Hancu > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > Thanks. > Marius Hancu Yes. He doesn't want the bodyguard to become weak, sentimental - soft, that is; because these aren't exactly the qualities of a good bodyguard.  SignatureCheryl > > Does > > "don't let this moron go soft on me" [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Tool gestured at the wooden cross. "Least he was a 'husband, father, > > son, brother' -- I ain't _none_ of those things." > Yes. He doesn't want the bodyguard to become weak, sentimental - soft, > that is; because these aren't exactly the qualities of a good bodyguard. Thanks. Marius Hancu > Hello: > > Does > "don't let this moron go soft on me" > mean > "don't let him become a softie right now when I need him?" Yes, as Cheryl said. "Go soft on someone", usually "on me", is a fixed phrase and sounds somewhat old-fashioned to me. (Though you never know. Yesterday I heard a woman, maybe around thirty, say "I kid you not.") > ---- > [Tool, Red's bodyguard, seems to have a moment of passing weakness > while looking at the final resting place of a highway driver, dead in > a head-on colision, exactly at the time when Red needs his bruising > qualities] The memorial on the highway is probably where the driver died but not his "final resting place", which means where he's buried. > "Mercy." Red thinking: Lord, please don't let this moron go soft on > me. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Carl Hiaasen, Skinny Dip, p. 333 -- Jerry Friedman > > Does > > "don't let this moron go soft on me" [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > never know. Yesterday I heard a woman, maybe around thirty, say "I > kid you not.") OK. > > ---- > > [Tool, Red's bodyguard, seems to have a moment of passing weakness [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > The memorial on the highway is probably where the driver died but not > his "final resting place", which means where he's buried. I think you're right about that one. I don't think highway administrations would even allow that, I don't know. > > "Mercy." Red thinking: Lord, please don't let this moron go soft on > > me. > > > Tool gestured at the wooden cross. "Least he was a 'husband, father, > > son, brother' -- I ain't _none_ of those things." Thank you. Marius Hancu >> The memorial on the highway is probably where the driver died but not >> his "final resting place", which means where he's buried. > >I think you're right about that one. I don't think highway >administrations would even allow that, I don't know. You see roadside memorials (we call them "markers" here) all over Florida. They are erected by family members and friends, and usually crude crosses or markers decorated with plastic flowers and small objects somehow related with the deceased. Usually some printed words. Here's one photographed near Ft Pierce (FL) that I found on the web. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/93/250623416_70365ea884.jpg I could get in my car and photograph four or five in a short drive from my home, but it seems kind of creepy to do so. It's a problem for the authorities. They are messy looking, violate laws on signage, and unauthorized on the property on which they are placed. However, any city/county/state official who orders their removal is faced with a storm of protest. The public is more sympathetic to the deceased's family than they are to the government's intentions. In some localities, the authorities will allow a marker to remain in place for a certain time limit, and then require that it be replaced with something more discreet or require that it be removed. Roadside memorials/markers are found in other states, and prohibited in some states, but I'm familiar with the Florida situation. Hiaasen is a Florida boy, you know. SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida > >> The memorial on the highway is probably where the driver died but not > >> his "final resting place", which means where he's buried. [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > in some states, but I'm familiar with the Florida situation. Hiaasen > is a Florida boy, you know. Interesting. Thanks. Marius Hancu > > The memorial on the highway is probably where the driver died but > > not his "final resting place", which means where he's buried. > > I think you're right about that one. I don't think highway > administrations would even allow that, I don't know. Here are some examples: <http://www.roadsideamerica.com/rant/descansos.html> Brian SignatureDay 367 of the "no grouchy usenet posts" project >> On Feb 3, 11:46 pm, Jerry Friedman <jerry_fried...@yahoo.com> >> wrote: [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > <http://www.roadsideamerica.com/rant/descansos.html> Quite a different style along the highways in Puerto Rico in 1958: the wrecked car was pushed off to the edge of the jungle - not far from the road, usually - and spray painted with the number dead in the accident, F'r example, /4 muertos/. I caculated more than one deceased per mile on the 96-mile taxi ride from San Juan to Aguadilla. We once passed over the /Rumarosa/ mountains between Tijuana and Mexicali, where the switchbacks are adorned with the small crosses and displays of flowers and mementos elbow-to-elbow, on Hallownight. Most were lighted by candles, so it was almost possible to drive without headlamps lit. SignatureFrank ess |
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