Frost: do

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Marius Hancu - 24 Feb 2010 12:34 GMT

Hello:

Does "do" in:
"But ' twas by making sweetbreads do"
mean "make acceptable?"

---
We learned from the forbidden fruit
For brains there is no substitute.
'Unless it's sweetbreads, ' you suggest
With innuendo I detest.
You drive me to confess in ink:
Once I was fool enough to think
That brains and sweetbreads were the same,
Till I was caught and put to shame,
First by a butcher, then a cook,
Then by a scientific book.
But ' twas by making sweetbreads do
I passed with such a high I.Q.

Robert Frost, Quandary, p. 467
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/quandary/
---
--
Thanks.
Marius Hancu

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Cheryl - 24 Feb 2010 12:41 GMT

> Hello:
>
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> Thanks.
> Marius Hancu

Yes, he makes the sweetbreads act as an acceptable substitute for
brains. He "makes do".

There's an interesting discussion ending here:

http://www.jstor.org/stable/364557?seq=10

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Cheryl

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Peter Duncanson (BrE) - 24 Feb 2010 13:07 GMT

>> Hello:
>>
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
>Yes, he makes the sweetbreads act as an acceptable substitute for
>brains. He "makes do".

OED:

f. intr. to make do: to manage with (what is available, esp. as an
inferior or temporary substitute). Also without with, esp. in to
make do and mend: to repair for continued use (cf. MAKE n.2 5c). See
also MAKE-DO n.

make-do, n. and adj.

A. n. The action of making do (MAKE v.1 39f); an instance of
this; a makeshift, a temporary expedient. Also make-do-and-mend.

1895 Dial. Notes 1 372 These 'ere make-dos are no 'count.
1916 R. KIPLING Tales of ‘Trade’ 13 The full tale of their
improvisations and ‘make-do's’ will probably never come to light.
....
B. adj. (attrib.). Characterized by makeshift methods;
improvised, makeshift.

This article refers to a book titled _Make Do and Mend_ published by the
UK Ministry of Information during WW2:
http://www.miss-thrifty.co.uk/2008/09/30/make-do-and-mend-vogue-for-the-credit-c
runch-bunch/

The book was reprinted by the Imperial War Museum in 2007.

The phrase "Make Do and Mend" was very familiar to me when I was growing
up in England and Wales.

>There's an interesting discussion ending here:
>
>http://www.jstor.org/stable/364557?seq=10

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Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

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CDB - 24 Feb 2010 15:40 GMT

> Does "do" in:
> "But ' twas by making sweetbreads do"
> mean "make acceptable?"

More "use, even though not entirely suitable". "Use it up, wear it
out, make it do or do without," as people used to say.

> ---
> We learned from the forbidden fruit
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/quandary/
> ---

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010

Frost: do