How would you interrupt this phrase ‘dinner always took a long time’? How would you interrupt this phrase ‘dinner always took a long time’? Does it mean Antonapoulos always took a long time to cook dinner? Or does it mean they always took a long time to eat? Thanks! It’s from The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by McCullers the context: They shared the upstairs of a small house near the business section of the town. There were two rooms. On the oil stove in the kitchen Antonapoulos cooked all of their meals. There were straight, plain kitchen chairs for Singer and an overstuffed sofa for Antonapoulos. The bedroom was furnished mainly with a large double bed covered with an eiderdown comforter for the big Greek and a narrow iron cot for Singer.Dinner always took a long time, because Antonapoulos loved food and he was very slow. After they had eaten, the big Greek would lie back on his sofa and slowly lick over each one of his teeth with his tongue, either from a certain delicacy or because he did not wish to lose the savor of the meal--while Singer washed the dishes.