Jody
what does "near about give you out"mean? Jody saw his father's hands, big for the rest of him, close around a bundle of wood. He was doing Jody's work, and in his good coat. Jody ran to him. "I'll git it, Pa." He hoped his willingness, now, would cover his delinquency. His father straightened his back. "I near about give you out, son," he said. "I went to the Glen." "Hit were a mighty purty day to go," Penny said. "Or to go anywhere. How come you to take out such a fur piece?" It was as hard to remember why he had gone as though it had been a year ago. He had to think back to the moment when he had laid down his hoe. "Oh." He had it now. "I aimed to foller the honey-bees and find a bee-tree." "You find it?" Jody stared blankly. "Dogged if I ain't forgot 'til now to look for it."
Dec 4, 2014 1:23 PM
Answers · 3
1
This dialogue comes from a book called 'The Yearling' , which was written in 1938. I think it is safe to say that there's probably barely anybody alive today who still uses this dialect. As a result, anyone who reads this - native speakers and foreign learners alike - has to guess meaning from the context. The main difference is that native speakers don't expect to fail to understand, so we have more confidence about guessing. We know that Jody has been away from home for some time, and that his father had no idea where he'd been. We can also infer that the weather was bad. Taking all that into consideration, I'd guess, as Susan612 has done, that the comment means something like "I almost gave up on you ever coming back.". But this isn't English as we know it, so your guess is as good as ours.
December 4, 2014
1
I think, but I'm not certain, that it means "I almost gave up on you ever coming back."
December 4, 2014
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