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Elena Menshikova Posted 10 years ago
Vocabulary

a wink for pluck

Hi, i'm reading "The Devil in the White City" by Eric Larson and can't catch the meaning of the phrase. Could anybody help me?

The quotation:
"Suddenly New York and St. Louis wanted the
fair. Washington laid claim to the honor on grounds it
was thecenter of government, NewYork because it was
the center of everything. No one cared what St. Louis
thought, although the city got a wink for pluck."

What means "got a wink for pluck"?
Thank you in advance
  

Top answer

I understand "a wink" to mean an approving acknowledgment. "pluck" means "courage" (presumably courage in bidding for the fair).

— GPY

  • I understand "a wink" to mean an approving acknowledgment.
  • "pluck" means "courage" (presumably courage in bidding for the fair).
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10 Answers
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I understand "a wink" to mean an approving acknowledgment. "pluck" means "courage" (presumably courage in bidding for the fair).
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Is it an idiom or author's phrase? Cause when i put this quotation to google translator i get "move away an eye" meaning.)) This phrase is an idiom in russian and means a very acidic drink or sometimes it's about some unpleasant and sly person.
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But i feel this phrase is not just about St Louis' courage cause in this quotation i feel sarcasm. The author speaks about cities that they tried to be the first in this competition and tried to justify their participation. Washington was the center of government, New York was the center of everything.(sarcasm) Logycally there must be the reason why St Louis deserved the honor to host the fair.
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Elena MenshikovaIs it an idiom or author's phrase? Cause when i put this quotation to google translator i get "move away an eye" meaning.)) This phrase is an idiom in russian and means a very acidic drink or sometimes it's about some unpleasant and sly person.
As far as I can tell, it is a phrase made up by the author. "move away an eye" does not make much sen
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GPY I would not be at all surprised if a machine translator failed to successfully translate this phrase.
Agree, i just was laughing about so curious google translation.))) when surprisingly google turned the literal meaning of the verb "to pluck" into russian idiom.
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I've read this phrase for many times and i have a new idea.
a wink - is like intimation of somebody who assured St Louis they would get this prize. Maybe St Louis conducted some secret negotiations about this matter
for pluck - it's courage as it was said above and maybe a hope for getting a prize.
All together - St Louis didn't have any advantages or even any points or
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Elena Menshikovais like intimation of somebody who assured St Louis they would get this prize.
This does not seem consistent with "No one cared what St. Louis thought".
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But what is the meaning of the whole sentence then?
"No one cared what St. Louis thought, although the city got a wink for pluck"
i thought that there were two parts of the sentence connected with the word "although" (in meaning "despite the fact that")
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Elena MenshikovaBut what is the meaning of the whole sentence then?"No one cared what St. Louis thought, although the city got a wink for pluck" i thought that there were two parts of the sentence connected with the word "although" (in meaning "despite the fact that")
The purpose of "although" is (or certainly seems to be) to make a small concession to the gen
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Thank you very much, now i've caught it!!!!!
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