Fat and likely?
Hello! I am reading Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
I can't get the meaning of "fat and likely" and "I lose as few as any man in the business" in red.
I think "I lose ~~" means that he runs the business without losing money. And in this perspective fat and likely refers to the profitability of his business. Is my interpretation right?
If not, does "fat and likely" mean that he was said to bring in about the finest slaves? like fat(=many times) and likely(in a promising manner)?
I actually don't know exactly what this phrase refers to.
Thank you!
"It don't look well, now, for a feller to be praisin' himself; but I say it jest because it's the truth. I believe I'm reckoned to bring in about the finest droves of *** that is brought in, — at least, I've been told so; if I have once, I reckon I have a hundred times, — all in good case, — fat and likely, and I lose as few as any man in the business. And I lays it all to my management, sir; and humanity, sir, I may say, is the great pillar of my management."
Top answer
I lose as few as any man in the business. Some of my slaves die, but no more than other slave-traders lose. fat and likely He means the slaves are well-nourished and appear to be capable of working well.
- I lose as few as any man in the business.
- Some of my slaves die, but no more than other slave-traders lose.
- fat and likely He means the slaves are well-nourished and appear to be capable of working well.
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I lose as few as any man in the business. Some of my slaves die, but no more than other slave-traders lose.
fat and likely He means the slaves are well-nourished and appear to be capable of working well.
0sung min Leefat and likely
I would interpret it to mean that the slaves he sells are in good condition (well-fed rather than half-starved) and will probably prove satisfactory to their new owners.
sung min LeeI lose as few as any man in the business
Not many of his slaves die before he is able to sell them.
0Haley sells slaves. The slaves he provides to his customers are "fat and likely". Fat, meaning just that—well-nourished—and likely, which is a very old-fashioned word for "showing promise". He brags that he loses as few as any man in the business, meaning that very few of his slaves die while in his possession.
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