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get up a pretty little Commission de lunatico
redacted by order of

Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

for one while (literary Dickens)

English answer:

for a little while

Added to glossary by Jenni Lukac (X)
Dec 14, 2009 22:40
14 yrs ago
English term

for one while

English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
Dear Colleagues, it is from "The Old Curiosity Shop".

'I wish I only knew who his friends were,' muttered Sampson, filling his pocket with papers; 'if they'd just get up a pretty little Commission de lunatico at the Gray's Inn Coffee House and give me the job, I'd be content to have the lodgings empty for one while, at all events.'

Thank you in advance!
Responses
4 +7 for a little while
3 for one short period of time
Change log

Dec 17, 2009 17:07: Jenni Lukac (X) Created KOG entry

Discussion

B D Finch Dec 15, 2009:
Not just archaic Dickens used non-standard spelling and phrasing to indicate different class and regional, or even occupational, speech patterns. It is difficult to know how accurate this was, to what extent it reflected his personal prejudices etc. given the absence of voice recorders at the time.

Responses

+7
8 mins
Selected

for a little while

For one while is odd phrasing, probably used give character.
Peer comment(s):
agree Carol Gullidge : for a while (for one while sounds quite wrong to me - I wonder if this is a back translation, as it doesn't really sound like Dickens. But no doubt, I shall be proved horribly wrong! As you say, it cd be a mannerism
4 mins
Cheers and thanks, Carol. It's been a long time since I read this book. It might have been for characterization but I don't have a copy in English to check.
agree Veronika McLaren
28 mins
Good evening and thanks, Veronika
agree Demi Ebrite : Ch. 37 - http://www.online-literature.com/view.php/curiosity/37?term=...\%27s%20inn%20coffee%20house
6 hrs
Thanks Demi. What a wonderful site!
agree Paula Vaz-Carreiro : Methinks it is just an archaic construction :-) I am sure I've seen it before... in Jane Austen, was it...?
10 hrs
Thanks Paula. Maybe you can verify it in Demi's site noted above. I'm looking forward to exploring it when I have a spare moment.
agree Rolf Keiser
11 hrs
Greetings and thanks, Goldcoaster
agree Jim Tucker (X) : Lewis Carroll uses it side by side with "for a while"
12 hrs
Greetings and thanks, Jim
agree Phong Le
1 day 3 hrs
Good morning and thanks, Phong
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you, Jenni!"
6 hrs

for one short period of time

I think the problem is not in translation, but in the fact that Dicken's language is archaic to the modern reader. (sorry Carol, it is Dicken's own words!) I take it to mean "for one short period of time" - which seems to fit in the context.
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