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Kapa Posted 11 years ago
Vocabulary
Meaning
Hello friends,
would you please tell me meaning of the bold part?
Cousin Joshua was frustrated by the authorities when he fired upon the president of the University, who in his opinion was little more than a sewage disposal expert. This was no doubt true, but an idle excuse for assault with a deadly weapon. After much passing around of money Cousin Joshua was moved across the tracks and placed in state accommodations for the irresponsible, where he remained of the rest of his days.
Thank you
would you please tell me meaning of the bold part?
Cousin Joshua was frustrated by the authorities when he fired upon the president of the University, who in his opinion was little more than a sewage disposal expert. This was no doubt true, but an idle excuse for assault with a deadly weapon. After much passing around of money Cousin Joshua was moved across the tracks and placed in state accommodations for the irresponsible, where he remained of the rest of his days.
Thank you
Top answer
"tracks" means "railway tracks", but it is not likely to be literal; instead it is a reference to the idea that a railway line separates the good or affluent part of a town from the bad or poor part (as also in the expresssion "the wrong side of the tracks"), and Joshua was sent to the bad part.
- "tracks" means "railway tracks", but it is not likely to be literal; instead it is a reference to the idea that a railway line separates the good or affluent part of a town from the bad or poor part (as also in the expresssion "the wrong side of the tracks"), and Joshua was sent to the bad part.
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3 Answers
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"tracks" means "railway tracks", but it is not likely to be literal; instead it is a reference to the idea that a railway line separates the good or affluent part of a town from the bad or poor part (as also in the expresssion "the wrong side of the tracks"), and Joshua was sent to the bad part.
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I fully agree with GYP that usually "the wrong side of the track" is used to describe the part of town where the poor people live.
But in this case, it seems to suggest that there is a prison for "normal" criminals and an institution for the insane. Perhaps the author considers the common prison to be on the wrong side of the tracks (metaphorically) so he was moved across the tracks to th
But in this case, it seems to suggest that there is a prison for "normal" criminals and an institution for the insane. Perhaps the author considers the common prison to be on the wrong side of the tracks (metaphorically) so he was moved across the tracks to th
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GPY"tracks" means "railway tracks", but it is not likely to be literalIt should be noted, however, that in the earlier history of the United States it was absolutely literal. For example, there used to be countless towns where anyone not racially white could only live on the other side of the (literal railway) tracks from the whites.
So the present-
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