Water plug, transplendent theatre etc.

Question

1
1. What is water plug? Maybe hydrant. (-a large policeman of severe demeanour leand against water plug.)

2. What does 'transplendent theatre' mean? (~~another policeman lounging grandly in front of transplendent theatre~~)

3. What does 'lads celebratin' the goose egg they give to' mean? (Tis one of them Yale lads celebratin' the goose egg they give to the Hartford College.)

4. What does 'marched in the throng' mean? The threadbare space in the rug in front of the dresser told that lovely woman had marched in the throng.

5. What kind of ballet is 'Amazonian balet'? (--like the sashes of the Amazonian ballet.)

Thanx!

Paco2004 · Accepted Answer

Hello Vermont

I'm a learner from Japan. As your questions are left unanswered, let me try to put my two cents on them. You can be sure some teacher will come to correct my answers.

[1] A young woman of a modest and pleasing guise was standing before a show window gazing with sprightly interest at its display of shaving mugs and inkstands, and two yards from the window a large policeman of severe demeanour leaned against a water plug.
Yes you are right. The water plug here means a hydrant.

[2] The thought brought a little of panic upon it, and when he came upon another policeman lounging grandly in front of a transplendent theatre he caught at the immediate straw of "disorderly conduct."
'A transplendent theatre' is 'a brillantly shining (or decorated) theatre'.

[3] " 'Tis one of them Yale lads celebratin' the goose egg they give to the Hartford College. Noisy; but no harm. We've instructions to lave them be."
"'It (=Soapy) is one of them [the?] Yale lads celebrating the goose egg they give to the Hartford College." I'm sorry but I can't get this one. My understanding is like "He is one of the Yale University boys who are celebrating the defeat in a sport game with the Hartford College girls". But I am quite uncertain.

[4] The threadbare space in the rug in front of the dresser told that lovely woman had marched in the throng.
"March in the throng" is "march in the pressing crowd"
paco

Clive · Answer

Hi guys,

A couple more comments....

[1] A young woman of a modest and pleasing guise was standing before a show window gazing with sprightly interest at its display of shaving mugs and inkstands, and two yards from the window a large policeman of severe demeanour leaned against a water plug.
'hydrant' is fine. Other common expressions here in N. America are 'fire hydrant', 'fire plug'. Obviously, these names comes from the use, not the contents.

[2] The thought brought a little of panic upon it, and when he came upon another policeman lounging grandly in front of a transplendent theatre he caught at the immediate straw of "disorderly conduct."
'transplendent' is a splendid word, although it's very old-fashioned. Not really a word you'd hear today.

[3] " 'Tis one of them Yale lads celebratin' the goose egg they give to the Hartford College. Noisy; but no harm. We've instructions to lave them be." A 'goose egg' means a 'zero', as the round shape supposedly resembles an egg. It means they defeated the other team, who scored no goals, points, etc.

[4] The threadbare space in the rug in front of the dresser told that lovely woman had marched in the throng.
"March in the throng" is "march in the pressing crowd"

Yes, but I don't understand the meaning here. 'The theadbare space' suggests the woman has stood in front of her dressing table a lot. Perhaps in an attempt to put her make-up on and regain her lost beauty? I really don't know, I'm just guessing.

#2, and I imagine the rest of these quotes, are from a story by O. Henry. You no doubt realize that this is not written in a modern style or vocabulary.

Best wishes, Clive

Paco2004 · Answer

Hello guys

To Clive

You're right. Those come from [url=http://henry.thefreelibrary.com/The-Four-Million/24-1] an O Henry's story[/url].

[4] The threadbare space in the rug in front of the dresser told that lovely woman had marched in the throng.
'That lovely woman' here is actually a theatre actress. I take the phrase 'march in the throng' to metaphorically imply like 'live through a hard competition with other actresses'. I suppose 'the threadbare space in the rug in front of the dresser' might implicitly mean the actress did a lot of theatrical practice in front of the dresser.

[3] 'Tis one of them Yale lads celebratin' the goose egg they give to the Hartford College.
Clive: A 'goose egg' means a 'zero', as the round shape supposedly resembles an egg.
I see! So, 'celebrating the goose they give to the Hartford College' should mean 'celebrating the complete win over the Hartford College'. I took the meaning just in the opposite way.

To Vermont

[5] The mantel's chastely severe outline was ingloriously veiled behind some pert drapery drawn rakishly askew like the sashes of the Amazonian ballet.
I forgot answering this question. I guess 'the sashes of the Amazonian ballet' means something like scarves that some almost-naked ballet dancers wear around their waist.
paco

Water plug, transplendent theatre etc.

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