Re: GR translation: checking out tits ‘n’ asses, waistlines ‘n’ baskets

[Mike Jing]

Sorry for the absence and late reply.

As I mentioned several times before, I do try to be as literal as possible
in my translation.  However, sometimes interpretation is unavoidable, since
a literal translation would make no sense whatsoever to readers of the
other language.  This unfortunately may be one of those times.

Thanks all for responding.  More questions coming.

On Wed, Oct 14, 2015 at 9:16 AM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> It was a stretch (I like to stretch). That's why I don't think "basket"
> should be translated as anything other than "basket."  Mike's translation
> should avoid being an interpretation.
>
> David Morris
>
> On Wed, Oct 14, 2015 at 7:16 AM, Keith Davis <kbob42 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> That seemed a stretch....
>>
>>
>> Www.innergroovemusic.com <http://www.innergroovemusic.com>
>>
>> On Oct 14, 2015, at 12:14 AM, "kelber at mindspring.com" <
>> kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:
>>
>> I agree with Jochen that, having just used the word "tits," Pynchon is
>> unlikely to immediately use a second word with the same meaning. Both the
>> urban dictionary link cited by Jochen and the OED define basket as
>> sometimes referring to male crotch-bulge, and this seems like the most
>> likely meaning in this context. Especially since the person doing the
>> looking is described as a transectite - a play on transvestite - a man who
>> might very well be checking out both female and male body parts.
>>
>> The Ella song derives from one of the nursery rhymes I remember from
>> childhood, in which the word " basket" refers to ... A basket.
>>
>> Laura
>>
>>
>> Keith Davis <kbob42 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I love Ella, and breasts....
>>
>>
>> Www.innergroovemusic.com <http://www.innergroovemusic.com>
>>
>> On Oct 13, 2015, at 11:11 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> In this Ella context, I think the proverbial basket is also often
>> also called many other containers...
>>
>> But a translation won't be able, normally, to include these allusions.
>> Be literal, and let the reader dig for meaning.
>>
>> David Morris
>>
>> David Morris
>>
>> On Tuesday, October 13, 2015, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Ella Fitzgerald - A-Tisket, A-Tasket (High Quality - Remastered)
>>> <https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SjJry0vhHj4>
>>>
>>>    Lyrics
>>>    A-tisket A-tasket
>>>    A brown and yellow basket
>>>    I send a letter to my mommy
>>>    On the way I dropped it
>>>    I dropped it
>>>    I dropped it
>>>    Yes on the way I dropped it
>>>    A little girlie picked it up
>>>    And put it in her pocket
>>>    SHE WAS TRUCKIN ON DOWN THE AVENUE
>>>    Not a single thing to do
>>>    She went peck peck pecking all around
>>>    When she spied it on the ground
>>>    She took it
>>>    She took it
>>>    My little yellow basket
>>>    And if she doesn't bring it back I think that I will die
>>>    A-tisket A-tasket
>>>    I lost my yellow basket
>>>    And if the girlie don't return it
>>>    Don't know know what I'll do
>>>    Oh dear I wonder where my basket can be
>>>    (So do we, so do we, so do we, so do we, so do we)
>>>    Oh gee I wish that little girl I could see
>>>    (So do we, so do we, so do we, so do we, so do we)
>>>    Oh why… Full lyrics on Google Play
>>>    <https://play.google.com/music/preview/Tkxwzuhwsi5z4jvcfzizricjfri?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tuesday, October 13, 2015, Keith Davis <kbob42 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Of all the available words, breasts seems the warmest and most
>>>> intimate. I'm sticking with that...
>>>>
>>>> On Tue, Oct 13, 2015 at 9:54 AM, Jochen Stremmel <jstremmel at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> basket for breasts in this context seems rather unlikely as we have
>>>>> the tits just a few words before.
>>>>>
>>>>> In the urban dictionary I found that:
>>>>> http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=basket: Could mean
>>>>> balls, obviously, but vagina too. Take your pick?
>>>>>
>>>>> 2015-10-13 12:16 GMT+02:00 Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com>:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Baskets, noun, the female breasts, ROUTLEDGE DICT OF MODERN SLANG,
>>>>>> interestingly no citation earlier than 1965. An anachronistic usage from
>>>>>> the fountainhead of the sixties.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Oct 13, 2015, at 2:01 AM, Jochen Stremmel <jstremmel at gmail.com>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I would think the things normal bras have two of.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 2015-10-13 5:36 GMT+02:00 Dave Monroe <against.the.dave at gmail.com>:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Best ... P-List ... subject line ... ever ...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Mon, Oct 12, 2015 at 9:42 PM, Mike Jing
>>>>>>> <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>> > V653.4-14   But he gets no farther than Nürnberg, where his
>>>>>>> valise, with
>>>>>>> > Byron wrapped inside in an alb, is ripped off by a transsectite, a
>>>>>>> Lutheran
>>>>>>> > named Mausmacher who likes to dress up in Roman regalia. This
>>>>>>> Mausmacher,
>>>>>>> > not content with standing in front of his own mirror making papal
>>>>>>> crosses,
>>>>>>> > thinks it will be a really bizarre kick to go out to the Zeppelin
>>>>>>> field to a
>>>>>>> > Nazi torchlight rally in full drag, and walk around blessing
>>>>>>> people at
>>>>>>> > random. Green torches flaring, red swastikas, twinkling brasses
>>>>>>> and Father
>>>>>>> > Mausmacher, checking out tits ‘n’ asses, waistlines ‘n’ baskets,
>>>>>>> humming a
>>>>>>> > clerical little tune, some Bach riff, smiling as he moves through
>>>>>>> the Sieg
>>>>>>> > Heils and choruses of “Die Fahne Hoch.”
>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>> > What is the basket in "waistlines ‘n’ baskets"?
>>>>>>> -
>>>>>>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> www.innergroovemusic.com
>>>>
>>>>
>
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