|
ESL Forum:
Techniques and methods
in Language Teaching
Games, activities
and teaching ideas
Grammar and
Linguistics
Teaching material
Concerning
worksheets
Concerning
powerpoints
Concerning online
exercises
Make suggestions,
report errors
Ask for help
Message board
|
ESL forum >
Ask for help > In the gutters -meaning
In the gutters -meaning
|
dackala
|
In the gutters -meaning
|
|
Hi to all, I have a problem translating "In the gutters" from Orwell 1984, on page 84. In our language it is translated in such a way that it has the meaning on/in the street. The whole sentence is: " They were born, they grew up in the gutters, they went to work at twelve, they passed through a brief blossoming-period of beauty and sexual desire, they were married at twenty, they were middle-aged at thirty, they died, for the most part, at sixty. I assume that in the gutters here means to be raised in some kind of waste. As I am not sure what in the gutters means in this part, I would like some help in clarification of the phrase please.  |
20 Sep 2020
|
|
|
|
spinney
|
|
Hi, in this context, and normally, it means in poverty or "from humble origins." "Gutter" can also mean "sordid" or "vulgar" as in the expression "the gutter press," usually referring to sensationalist newspapers such as British tabloids. Oscar Wilde is the author of the famous quote, "We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars," which means, more or less, that none of us are all that special but some of us have big dreams and mean to succeed. The gutter is that part of the road or pavement that channels all fluid waste into the drainage system, by the way. If you were found "in the gutter" then it was assumed that life could not get any worse than that. |
20 Sep 2020
|
|
|
cunliffe
|
|
Excellent explanation from spinney. I think it�s usually �in the gutter� rather than the plural. It kind of matches another phrase we use �dragged up�, rather than �brought up�. �She was dragged up� means she had a poor upbringing. |
20 Sep 2020
|
|
|
dackala
|
|
It is from George Orwell 1984, and it is written in the gutters, so I assumed that it meant in some kind of poverty. Thank you all! |
22 Sep 2020
|
|
|
yanogator
|
|
I would say that it�s a little stronger than Spinney explained, and would take it to mean "under the worst conditions", since the gutters are where the waste flows.
Bruce
|
24 Sep 2020
|
|
|
|
|
karagozian
|
|
I think we�re all in this bloody covid gutter now.
|
25 Sep 2020
|
|
|
