another's brass, for some of their coins were made of brass

Question

Some of you, we all know, are poor, find it hard to live, are sometimes, as it were, gasping for breath. I have no doubt that some of you who read this book are unable to pay for all the dinners which you have actu- ally eaten, or for the coats and shoes which are fast wearing or are already worn out, and have come to this page to spend borrowed or stolen time, robbing your creditors of an hour. It is very evident what mean and sneaking lives many of you live, for my sight has been whetted by experience; always on the limits, trying to get into business and trying to get out of debt, a very ancient slough, called by the Latins aes alienum, another's brass, for some of their coins were made of brass; still living, and dying, and buried by this other's brass; always promising to pay, promising to pay, tomorrow, and dying today, insolvent;

What does this sentence mean?

Clive · Accepted Answer

There are several sentences, not one.

Some of you are trapped in poverty and debt.

Clive

Mister Micawber · Answer

another's brass, for some of their coins were made of brass

The idiom is 'another's brass', and the source is explained in the 2nd phrase, 'for some of their coins were made of brass'. The idea is using other people's money to survive because you have not enough of your own.

Rpsh · Answer

Could you say more about it? How does this sentence expond into this meaning?

Rpsh · Answer

Could I say that some of my coins are made of another one's brass if I translate it directly?

Enoon · Answer

rpshCould I say that some of my coins are made of another one's brass if I translate it directly?

No. It is metonymy. brass = coins = money

Rpsh · Answer

Thank you! I get it!

Rpsh · Answer

Touché !! It comes home to me at once!

another's brass, for some of their coins were made of brass

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