Wu Ting
How would you interpret “beat to the socks”? “The hotel in D.C. had a lousy bar, the place was gestanko in general. Did I tell you there was a big scene?” “No.” “Last night. No, night before. I get back to my hotel after a whole day of meetings with the drizzle bags, I’m beat to the socks, and I can’t even get to the elevator. There’s a scene in the lobby. This huge colored cat, he’s got on a nice overcoat, hat, briefcase, everything, but he’s flailing. Football with the bellhops. I mean he’s down on the floor, they tackled him when he came in I guess. He’s a Negro, see. The hotel doesn’t have Negro guests.” How would you interpret “beat to the socks” in the third passage? Does it mean very exhausted? Thanks. And this excerpt is taken from The Lacuna by Kingsolver.
Jun 7, 2015 1:02 PM
Answers · 4
thank both of you.
June 8, 2015
It means he's exhausted from head to toe.
June 8, 2015
This is such bad writing I wouldn't even attempt to understand what the writer meant by "beat to the socks". The whole thing makes very little sense. If you're going to study English, I suggest you ignore pieces like the above.
June 7, 2015
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