Re: GR translation: and saw his friend on to Peenemünde—saw him on?

[Monte Davis]

"See" is one of those small, multi-multi-purpose words that gets many pages
in the OED. One of its many senses is "ensure" (I'm guessing by extension
from "see with your own eyes that X is accomplished." Say the Olympic torch
runners are coming through my town, and I'm a volunteer coordinator: my job
is to see them on to the next leg of their journey -- equivalently, to see
that / see to it that they make their way successfully.

On Sun, Mar 8, 2015 at 10:20 AM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> I don't know about the "see to it" connection with "saw him on."  "Saw him
> on to Peenude" to me sounds like sending one off on a journey, like bidding
> Bon voyage.
>
>
> On Sunday, March 8, 2015, Monte Davis <montedavis49 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Think "see to it" (ensure that it's done) or "I'll see you to the door."
>> The context is employment and careers: if I "see you on to" your next
>> position, the implication is that I have some power or agency in arranging
>> that.
>>
>> Slothrop catches himself after reflexively using the phrase here. He
>> doesn't *know* that Fibel's earlier connection with Stinnes had anything to
>> do with Achtfaden getting the Peenemunde job... but the coincidences keep
>> accumulating.
>>
>> On Sat, Mar 7, 2015 at 11:11 PM, Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> V586.40-587.6   Last we saw of Fibel he was hooking, stretching, and
>>> running shock cord for that Horst Achtfaden back in his gliding days, Fibel
>>> who stayed on the ground, and saw his friend on to Peenemünde—saw him on?
>>> isn’t that a slice of surplus paranoia there, not quite justified is
>>> it—well, call it Toward a Case for Bland’s Involvement with Achtfaden Too,
>>> if you want. Fibel worked for Siemens back when it was still part of the
>>> Stinnes trust. Along with his design work he also put in some time as a
>>> Stinnes intelligence agent.
>>>
>>> What does "saw his friend on to Peenemünde" mean exactly?  Is the "saw
>>> him on?" that follows a pun?  And if it is, what does it mean?
>>>
>>
>>
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