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

David Morris fqmorris at gmail.com
Wed Oct 14 08:16:02 CDT 2015


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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