Hold up recess
"For at that moment, as that man, who was willing to weave his few words of English into my few words of Russian, and I ascended the stairs to the cinema, I thought of the wretched children at Kenwood Grammar School who, eleven years before, had chosen to hold up recess until hell froze over rather than form a line where one of them would have to hold my hand." (Frank B. Wilderson III, Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid.)
What does the emphasized phrase mean?
Top answer
"hold up" means "delay", and "recess" is a break between school classes. The sentence read incongruously to me at first, since "recess" in this sense is AmE, whereas I thought that grammar schools were just a British concept. However, looking it up, I see that there are in fact some grammar schools in the US, which I never knew.
- "hold up" means "delay", and "recess" is a break between school classes.
- The sentence read incongruously to me at first, since "recess" in this sense is AmE, whereas I thought that grammar schools were just a British concept.
- However, looking it up, I see that there are in fact some grammar schools in the US, which I never knew.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
"hold up" means "delay", and "recess" is a break between school classes.
The sentence read incongruously to me at first, since "recess" in this sense is AmE, whereas I thought that grammar schools were just a British concept. However, looking it up, I see that there are in fact some grammar schools in the US, which I never knew.
0
Related Questions