What does 'needles-and-nails' mean?
Hi,
What does 'needles-and-nails' mean in the following sentence?

`The Men's room was his environment. Six days a week he stood there. Saturdays a double shift. The needles-and-nails quality of urine into water. The unseen rustle of newspapers on bare laps. The odors.'

Question

What does 'needles-and-nails' mean?
Hi, 
What does 'needles-and-nails' mean in the following sentence?

`The Men's room was his environment. Six days a week he stood there. Saturdays a double shift. The needles-and-nails quality of urine into water. The unseen rustle of newspapers on bare laps. The odors.'

Answer

The other sentences in this passage, and the sentences before, involve non-visual sensations - sounds and smells. So the author might be referring to sounds of the urine into water, like the sound of needles and nails being dropped. Or perhaps the pungent odor, suggesting the sharpness of needles and nails. Or maybe both.

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