Wu Ting
How would you explain ‘put that in your hat’ and ‘jazz talk’ in the context? Don Enrique has lost everything in the nationalization. Mother reports that the hacienda on Isla Pixol has been appropriated, turned over to the people of the village as a communal farm. They turned the house into a school. “Well, good. One provincial school will have some books in it, anyway.” “You would be on their side, wouldn’t you? Houseboy for the pinkos.” “The point of the appropriation law is restitution, Mother. Meaning Don Enrique or his family must have taken that land from the villagers in the first place.” “But look, were they really using it? Your Leandro is probably the president of the collective now, trying to work out how to put on a pair of shoes.” “My Leandro? He had a wife. The only man in that house who did.” “Ooh, you slay me. Poor old Enrique, he got his sock chorus, didn’t he? Can you imagine the scrow, when they put him off his own place? And his mother! Holy moly, that must have taken the army.” Mother took a nibble of her watermelon salad.“Consorting with Americans has improved your English.” “As far as I care, Enrique and his relatives can go chase themselves, and you can put that in your hat. There’s some jazz talk.” How would you explain ‘put that in your hat’ and ‘jazz talk’ in the last passage? Thanks!
Apr 18, 2014 1:05 PM
Answers · 1
More period slang, and again I am sure Kingsolver expects readers to figure it out from context. She probably had fun researching it. I don't know "put that in your HAT." I've heard... read, more likely... "Put THAT in your pipe and smoke it." It's just emphasis, I think. "I REALLY mean this." "Don't think I'm going to change my mind about this." "I've made up my mind and I don't want to hear anything more about it." This is underlined by her saying "That's jazz talk." I haven't heard the phrase "jazz talk," but in the 1920s people referred to the times as "the jazz age." I get the impression that "Mother" is rather self-consciously and intentionally trying to use the slang of her day, in order to sound young and up-to-date. I sometimes find it helpful, when trying to understand phrases before about 1923, to use a Google Books Advanced Search and specify "exact phrase" and "full view only." ("Full view" usually gets public domain material before 1923). This gives an set of usage examples from books, in context.
April 18, 2014
Still haven’t found your answers?
Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!