what does this mean?
Recently I read an book. There is a setence in "Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta:
the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap,
at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta."

I am quite confused of " the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap". what does this mean??

Question

what does this mean?
Recently I read an book. There is a setence in "Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta:
the tip  of  the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap,
at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta."

I am quite confused of " the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap". what does this mean??

Answer

It's just poetic language to describe his tongue tapping out three times the syllables of her name. I wouldn't worry too much about this sentence I had to read it twice to get the meaning. It's easier to understand if you remove some of the commas. He's just added them to be more dramatic.

Answer

When you say the word Lolita, your tongue taps your palate (the roof of your mouth) three times. Each time it taps, it moves slightly forward, towards your teeth. He is using a metaphor of stepping down three steps, one at a time, to describe that movement of the tongue.

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