Could you please help me with the underlined expression?
Gregory is surprised. ‘Sir William is no older than yourself, my lord.’
A bark of laughter: ‘You think men of sixty should be put out to grass?’
‘He thinks they should be boiled for glue.’ He puts an arm around his son’s shoulders. ‘He’ll soon be boiling his father, won’t you?’
Do you think it should be understood literally? I googled death by boiling and it turns out it has been used as a death penalty in the past. This excerpt is taken from the third installment of Thomas Cromwell saga by Hilary Mantel.
Thanks for your help!
Top answer
anonymous Do you think it should be understood literally? No. They are both related idioms.
- anonymous Do you think it should be understood literally?
- No.
- They are both related idioms.
- com/put+out+to+grass #: :text=grass%2C%20out%2C%20put-,put%20out%20to%20grass,longer%20useful%20for%20other%20work.
- com/glue+factory
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0Thanks for your response. So, you're saying that he's using the analogy of useless animals that are sent to the glue factory?
0
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