Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
of spit and straw
English answer:
light, flimsy, incorporeal
Added to glossary by
Yvonne Gallagher
Sep 8, 2021 23:41
2 yrs ago
38 viewers *
English term
Russian Federation
Professional interpreting/translation
Native in: Russian 
Works in: English to Russian, Russian to English, Ukrainian to English, and 1 more.
of spit and straw
English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
"Want a sniff?"
The snuffbox, open to its mound of yellow powder, was suddenly up below Matthew's nose. He stepped back a pace, still with Mrs. Sutch's pleasure on his mind. "No, thank you."
"Don't laugh, you bitches !" Opal called to her friends as the girls emerged grinning from the steaming innards of the laundry house. She took two sniffs up the snoot and sneezed with hurricanious violence. Then she hooked an arm around Matthew's, her eyes watering, and crowed, "I've got me a man !" She pulled him along as if he were made out ***of spit and straw***.
Matthew let himself be pulled.
"Well!" she said, striding with a jaunty step. "What do you want to see ?"
"What's worth seeing?"
The snuffbox, open to its mound of yellow powder, was suddenly up below Matthew's nose. He stepped back a pace, still with Mrs. Sutch's pleasure on his mind. "No, thank you."
"Don't laugh, you bitches !" Opal called to her friends as the girls emerged grinning from the steaming innards of the laundry house. She took two sniffs up the snoot and sneezed with hurricanious violence. Then she hooked an arm around Matthew's, her eyes watering, and crowed, "I've got me a man !" She pulled him along as if he were made out ***of spit and straw***.
Matthew let himself be pulled.
"Well!" she said, striding with a jaunty step. "What do you want to see ?"
"What's worth seeing?"
Responses
| 4 +4 | light, flimsy, incorporeal |
Yvonne Gallagher
|
| 3 +2 | light as a feather |
David Hollywood
|
Change log
Sep 9, 2021 07:32: philgoddard changed "Field (write-in)" from "Road construction" to "(none)"
Sep 16, 2021 22:50: Yvonne Gallagher Created KOG entry
Responses
+4
7 mins
Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Ireland
Native in English
&
English
Specializes in field
Ireland
right word, right place. everytime
Native in: English (Variants: US, Canadian, Irish, UK)
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
317
Selected
light, flimsy, incorporeal
she was pulling him along almost as if he was just composed of straw, held together by spit (not an actual man!)
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Note added at 7 days (2021-09-16 22:50:22 GMT) Post-grading
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Glad to have helped
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Note added at 7 days (2021-09-16 22:50:22 GMT) Post-grading
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Glad to have helped
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you Yvonne and all!
"
+2
5 mins
David Hollywood
Native in English
&
English
worked for int. orgs (IMF, OAS, IDB)
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, German to English
Related KudoZ points
:
118
light as a feather
the idea
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Note added at 6 mins (2021-09-08 23:47:55 GMT)
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made out of spit and straw is not a standard combination in English but the idea is that he was light and easy to move
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Note added at 9 mins (2021-09-08 23:51:01 GMT)
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invented by the author as an image and just means "light" as in not heavy
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Note added at 13 mins (2021-09-08 23:54:32 GMT)
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if you have to use a similar idea in Russian, "light as a feather" is a ref.
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Note added at 6 mins (2021-09-08 23:47:55 GMT)
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made out of spit and straw is not a standard combination in English but the idea is that he was light and easy to move
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 mins (2021-09-08 23:51:01 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
invented by the author as an image and just means "light" as in not heavy
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 13 mins (2021-09-08 23:54:32 GMT)
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if you have to use a similar idea in Russian, "light as a feather" is a ref.
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