What does 'swallow' mean in this context?
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I have a report of the Peace Celebrations 1919 written by the vicar of a village in Kent (a county in the southeast of England) in which he describes some of the sporting competitions staged in the afternoon, including:
'The sight of all these contests stirred the blood of old and young.
Wager matches were made and run off, Mr. J. Prior beating Mr. E.
Orpin, and Mrs. Checksfield, after a good swallow, proved more than a
match for her husband.'
What could he have meant by 'after a good swallow'? Google, as you can imagine, is no help as the top ten results for 'a good swallow' are probably quite different in meaning to what the good vicar intended. My one thought is that as this is a celebration in a quintessentially English village, Mrs Checksfield's 'swallow' is a gulp from an emboldening cup of tea.
I'm writing an article to commemorate the centenary of these celebrations next year and want to include the most likely meaning of this phrase.
meaning
asked Dec 11 at 11:15
Goldbern
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I have a report of the Peace Celebrations 1919 written by the vicar of a village in Kent (a county in the southeast of England) in which he describes some of the sporting competitions staged in the afternoon, including:
'The sight of all these contests stirred the blood of old and young.
Wager matches were made and run off, Mr. J. Prior beating Mr. E.
Orpin, and Mrs. Checksfield, after a good swallow, proved more than a
match for her husband.'
What could he have meant by 'after a good swallow'? Google, as you can imagine, is no help as the top ten results for 'a good swallow' are probably quite different in meaning to what the good vicar intended. My one thought is that as this is a celebration in a quintessentially English village, Mrs Checksfield's 'swallow' is a gulp from an emboldening cup of tea.
I'm writing an article to commemorate the centenary of these celebrations next year and want to include the most likely meaning of this phrase.
meaning
asked Dec 11 at 11:15
Goldbern
1215
New contributor
Goldbern is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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3
Any idea what event the Checksfields were competing in? It might be relevant. (I do suspect you're right about the tea; circumstances seem to preclude Mrs Checksfield pulling out a hipflask for a splash of Dutch courage and the vicar considering this all suitable to report.)
– tmgr
Dec 11 at 11:24
I suspect that the target audience was probably the villagers who attended, and that there was a good bit of humour in what the vicar wrote. He writes "a good swallow", which reads as "took a reasonable swallow of a drink", whereas those who were there know he really meant "downed a pint of beer in 4 seconds". As we weren't there, we can't really be sure what he meant.
– AndyT
Dec 11 at 12:19
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I realise this is a question that's almost impossible to answer (so not really a good candidate for ELU). No idea what male-female contest this might have been, for the moment anyway, but these were almost certainly more fun events set alongside 'serious' games of cricket and tug-of-war. As it's unlikely Mrs Checksfield glugged down several measures of neat rum or speed drank a couple of pints of rough cider in preparation for the contest with her husband, I'll either suggest it was tea or just leave it to the reader to arrive at their own interpretation.
– Goldbern
yesterday
add a comment |
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I have a report of the Peace Celebrations 1919 written by the vicar of a village in Kent (a county in the southeast of England) in which he describes some of the sporting competitions staged in the afternoon, including:
'The sight of all these contests stirred the blood of old and young.
Wager matches were made and run off, Mr. J. Prior beating Mr. E.
Orpin, and Mrs. Checksfield, after a good swallow, proved more than a
match for her husband.'
What could he have meant by 'after a good swallow'? Google, as you can imagine, is no help as the top ten results for 'a good swallow' are probably quite different in meaning to what the good vicar intended. My one thought is that as this is a celebration in a quintessentially English village, Mrs Checksfield's 'swallow' is a gulp from an emboldening cup of tea.
I'm writing an article to commemorate the centenary of these celebrations next year and want to include the most likely meaning of this phrase.
meaning
asked Dec 11 at 11:15
Goldbern
1215
New contributor
Goldbern is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I have a report of the Peace Celebrations 1919 written by the vicar of a village in Kent (a county in the southeast of England) in which he describes some of the sporting competitions staged in the afternoon, including:
'The sight of all these contests stirred the blood of old and young.
Wager matches were made and run off, Mr. J. Prior beating Mr. E.
Orpin, and Mrs. Checksfield, after a good swallow, proved more than a
match for her husband.'
What could he have meant by 'after a good swallow'? Google, as you can imagine, is no help as the top ten results for 'a good swallow' are probably quite different in meaning to what the good vicar intended. My one thought is that as this is a celebration in a quintessentially English village, Mrs Checksfield's 'swallow' is a gulp from an emboldening cup of tea.
I'm writing an article to commemorate the centenary of these celebrations next year and want to include the most likely meaning of this phrase.
meaning
meaning
asked Dec 11 at 11:15
Goldbern
1215
New contributor
Goldbern is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked Dec 11 at 11:15
Goldbern
1215
New contributor
Goldbern is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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edited Dec 11 at 11:23
asked Dec 11 at 11:15
Goldbern
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asked Dec 11 at 11:15
Goldbern
1215
asked Dec 11 at 11:15
Goldbern
1215
1215
New contributor
Goldbern is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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New contributor
Goldbern is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Goldbern is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
3
Any idea what event the Checksfields were competing in? It might be relevant. (I do suspect you're right about the tea; circumstances seem to preclude Mrs Checksfield pulling out a hipflask for a splash of Dutch courage and the vicar considering this all suitable to report.)
– tmgr
Dec 11 at 11:24
I suspect that the target audience was probably the villagers who attended, and that there was a good bit of humour in what the vicar wrote. He writes "a good swallow", which reads as "took a reasonable swallow of a drink", whereas those who were there know he really meant "downed a pint of beer in 4 seconds". As we weren't there, we can't really be sure what he meant.
– AndyT
Dec 11 at 12:19
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I realise this is a question that's almost impossible to answer (so not really a good candidate for ELU). No idea what male-female contest this might have been, for the moment anyway, but these were almost certainly more fun events set alongside 'serious' games of cricket and tug-of-war. As it's unlikely Mrs Checksfield glugged down several measures of neat rum or speed drank a couple of pints of rough cider in preparation for the contest with her husband, I'll either suggest it was tea or just leave it to the reader to arrive at their own interpretation.
– Goldbern
yesterday
add a comment |
3
Any idea what event the Checksfields were competing in? It might be relevant. (I do suspect you're right about the tea; circumstances seem to preclude Mrs Checksfield pulling out a hipflask for a splash of Dutch courage and the vicar considering this all suitable to report.)
– tmgr
Dec 11 at 11:24
I suspect that the target audience was probably the villagers who attended, and that there was a good bit of humour in what the vicar wrote. He writes "a good swallow", which reads as "took a reasonable swallow of a drink", whereas those who were there know he really meant "downed a pint of beer in 4 seconds". As we weren't there, we can't really be sure what he meant.
– AndyT
Dec 11 at 12:19
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I realise this is a question that's almost impossible to answer (so not really a good candidate for ELU). No idea what male-female contest this might have been, for the moment anyway, but these were almost certainly more fun events set alongside 'serious' games of cricket and tug-of-war. As it's unlikely Mrs Checksfield glugged down several measures of neat rum or speed drank a couple of pints of rough cider in preparation for the contest with her husband, I'll either suggest it was tea or just leave it to the reader to arrive at their own interpretation.
– Goldbern
yesterday
3
3
Any idea what event the Checksfields were competing in? It might be relevant. (I do suspect you're right about the tea; circumstances seem to preclude Mrs Checksfield pulling out a hipflask for a splash of Dutch courage and the vicar considering this all suitable to report.)
– tmgr
Dec 11 at 11:24
Any idea what event the Checksfields were competing in? It might be relevant. (I do suspect you're right about the tea; circumstances seem to preclude Mrs Checksfield pulling out a hipflask for a splash of Dutch courage and the vicar considering this all suitable to report.)
– tmgr
Dec 11 at 11:24
I suspect that the target audience was probably the villagers who attended, and that there was a good bit of humour in what the vicar wrote. He writes "a good swallow", which reads as "took a reasonable swallow of a drink", whereas those who were there know he really meant "downed a pint of beer in 4 seconds". As we weren't there, we can't really be sure what he meant.
– AndyT
Dec 11 at 12:19
I suspect that the target audience was probably the villagers who attended, and that there was a good bit of humour in what the vicar wrote. He writes "a good swallow", which reads as "took a reasonable swallow of a drink", whereas those who were there know he really meant "downed a pint of beer in 4 seconds". As we weren't there, we can't really be sure what he meant.
– AndyT
Dec 11 at 12:19
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I realise this is a question that's almost impossible to answer (so not really a good candidate for ELU). No idea what male-female contest this might have been, for the moment anyway, but these were almost certainly more fun events set alongside 'serious' games of cricket and tug-of-war. As it's unlikely Mrs Checksfield glugged down several measures of neat rum or speed drank a couple of pints of rough cider in preparation for the contest with her husband, I'll either suggest it was tea or just leave it to the reader to arrive at their own interpretation.
– Goldbern
yesterday
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I realise this is a question that's almost impossible to answer (so not really a good candidate for ELU). No idea what male-female contest this might have been, for the moment anyway, but these were almost certainly more fun events set alongside 'serious' games of cricket and tug-of-war. As it's unlikely Mrs Checksfield glugged down several measures of neat rum or speed drank a couple of pints of rough cider in preparation for the contest with her husband, I'll either suggest it was tea or just leave it to the reader to arrive at their own interpretation.
– Goldbern
yesterday
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3
Any idea what event the Checksfields were competing in? It might be relevant. (I do suspect you're right about the tea; circumstances seem to preclude Mrs Checksfield pulling out a hipflask for a splash of Dutch courage and the vicar considering this all suitable to report.)
– tmgr
Dec 11 at 11:24
I suspect that the target audience was probably the villagers who attended, and that there was a good bit of humour in what the vicar wrote. He writes "a good swallow", which reads as "took a reasonable swallow of a drink", whereas those who were there know he really meant "downed a pint of beer in 4 seconds". As we weren't there, we can't really be sure what he meant.
– AndyT
Dec 11 at 12:19
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I realise this is a question that's almost impossible to answer (so not really a good candidate for ELU). No idea what male-female contest this might have been, for the moment anyway, but these were almost certainly more fun events set alongside 'serious' games of cricket and tug-of-war. As it's unlikely Mrs Checksfield glugged down several measures of neat rum or speed drank a couple of pints of rough cider in preparation for the contest with her husband, I'll either suggest it was tea or just leave it to the reader to arrive at their own interpretation.
– Goldbern
yesterday