GR translation: but def, after weeks of his snide comments?

[János Széky]

Abbreviation of "but definitely", that's "but really", as in the
Shirley Temple song, a kind of Americanized British wartime middle
class female slang.

The question mark refers to the contrast between Roger's (probably)
agnostic and anti-Christmas bickering and the sudden impulse to enter
the chapel on Christmas eve. "How come?"


János


2012/5/8 Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>:
> P130.15-22   Roger pulled over, and they watched the scuffed and dun
> military going in to evensong. The wind smelled of fresh snow.
>            “We ought to be home,” she said, after a bit, “it’s late.”
>            “We could just pop in here for a moment.”
>            Well, that surprised her, but def, after weeks of his
> snide comments? His unbeliever’s annoyance with the others in Psi
> Section he thought were out to drive him dotty as they were, and his
> Scroogery growing as shopping days till Xmas dwindled—
>
> What exactly does "but def" mean here?  Why is there a question mark
> at the end of the sentence?