Chapter 1
Allusions and Idioms
Bluntly stolen from Mr. Thom
Allusions
• An allusion is a brief
reference to something
in the past or something
that currently exists.
• Allusions can be made to
literature, art, popular
culture, religion etc.
•
In Harry Potter, Rowling makes an
allusion to the Phoenix from Greek
Mythology
Chapter One Allusions
• Galiban
Mountains:
• a small mountain
range situated in
central California.
Chapter One Allusions
• Howard street:
• There is a Howard
Street in San Francisco,
a city in Northern
California
Chapter One Allusions
• Sacramento:
• The capital of
California, Sacramento
is located about eighty
miles northeast of San
Francisco.
Chapter One Allusions
• Salinas River:
• a river that flows north
through Soledad and
empties into the Pacific
Ocean.
Chapter One Allusions
• Soledad:
• a city in near the coast
of California,
approximately 130
miles south of San
Francisco.
Chapter One Allusions
• “watchin' that blackboard”:
• During the depression,
employment agencies
would post available jobs
on a blackboard in front of
their offices. Prospective
employees would wait in
front of the offices,
watching the blackboard for
any new jobs.
Chapter One Allusions
• Weed:
• A mining town in
Northern California,
near Mt. Shasta.
Chapter One Allusions
• work cards:
• A job assignment from
an employment agency
would be written on a
work card to be
presented by the
worker to the
employer.
Idioms
• Idiom:
• an expression, word or
phrase that is
characteristic of an
individual, a time
period or region
Not to be confused with
Idiots...
Chapter One Idioms
• “blow their stake” or
• “blowin' in our jack”:
• Lose and/or spend all
their money
Chapter One Idioms
• “bustin' a gut”:
• To bust a gut is to
engage in very hard
physical labor -- so hard
that you ache all over -even in your gut.
Chapter One Idioms
• “in hot water”:
• to be in hot water is to
be in trouble.
Chapter One Idioms
• “jungle-up”:
• During the Great
Depression, many
wanderers (hoboes and
tramps) would settle for the
night in groups. These areas
would be known as hobo
jungles. To jungle-up is to
camp out for the evening in
the company of other like
companions of the road.
Chapter One Idioms
• live off the fatta the lan':
• The fat of the land is an
expression that refers
surviving and prospering by
simply relying on what one
can grow and raise -- that
the land is so "fat" one will
need nothing else to be
happy.
Things that make you go hmmmm
•
•
•
•
•
•
Canned: Fired
Jailbait:
Got the eye
Tart
Sore as hell
Clear out
• bindle (n.): a small
bundle of items rolled
up inside a blanket and
carried over the
shoulder or on the
back; a bedroll.