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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Vocabulary
All crunched shoulders
Hello,
could you, please, explain the expression "all crunched shoulders" in the following sentence by Peter Carey (Parrot and Olivier in America). The dictionary says that crunched means something like "crushed, broken, shattered" but it seems a bit strange to me in this context:
"He started, stared in my direction, made a strange hop, and fled - the most ungainly rush, all crunched shoulders, pigeon toes, ducking, darting in front of a brewery dray, into an alley no wider than a knife. And he was gone."
Thanks very much.
could you, please, explain the expression "all crunched shoulders" in the following sentence by Peter Carey (Parrot and Olivier in America). The dictionary says that crunched means something like "crushed, broken, shattered" but it seems a bit strange to me in this context:
"He started, stared in my direction, made a strange hop, and fled - the most ungainly rush, all crunched shoulders, pigeon toes, ducking, darting in front of a brewery dray, into an alley no wider than a knife. And he was gone."
Thanks very much.
Top answer
It is more related to this definition (crunch): distress or depressed conditions due to such a shortage or reduction: a budget crunch. The man is either handicapped or disturbed, so either his shoulders are deformed, or he has tightened the muscles in his shoulders so to create a cramped appearance. It is an odd use of this adjective, though.
- It is more related to this definition (crunch): distress or depressed conditions due to such a shortage or reduction: a budget crunch.
- The man is either handicapped or disturbed, so either his shoulders are deformed, or he has tightened the muscles in his shoulders so to create a cramped appearance.
- It is an odd use of this adjective, though.
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1 Answers
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It is more related to this definition (crunch):
distress or depressed conditions due to such a shortage or reduction: a budget crunch.
The man is either handicapped or disturbed, so either his shoulders are deformed, or he has tightened the muscles in his shoulders so to create a cramped appearance.
It is an odd use of this adjective, though.
distress or depressed conditions due to such a shortage or reduction: a budget crunch.
The man is either handicapped or disturbed, so either his shoulders are deformed, or he has tightened the muscles in his shoulders so to create a cramped appearance.
It is an odd use of this adjective, though.
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