GR translation: cut him loose

[Mike Jing]

That's what I finally suspected this time.  Thanks, Michael.



On Wed, Jul 2, 2025 at 11:04 PM Michael Lee Bailey <michaelleebailey at pm.me>
wrote:

>
> Cut him loose - usually it means to sever ties with someone
>
> But it’s a very chaotic scene
>
> Zhdaev, acting for Tchitcherine, has abducted Der Springer.
>
> And I think that Slothrop and Närrisch are about to free Der Springer, who
> is stoned on sodium Amytal & spouting nonsense such as “she baffs at
> nothing, the heterospeed”, from Tchitcherine’s clutches with a truly
> ridiculous plan … (reading on a little) … yes, cutting von Göll loose from
> his captivity
>
> The opposite of severing ties
>
>
> On Sun, Jun 29, 2025 at 2:17 AM, Mike Jing < gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com
> <On+Sun,+Jun+29,+2025+at+2:17+AM,+Mike+Jing+%3C%3Ca+href=>> wrote:
>
> V503.20-29, P511.36-512.4
> “I warned him, but he laughed. ‘Another leap, Närrisch. I have to keep
> leaping, don’t I?’”
>
> “Well what do you want to do now, cut him loose?”
>
> There is some excitement amidships. The Russians have thrown back a tarp
> to
> reveal the chimps, who are covered with vomit, and have also broken into
> the vodka. Haftung blinks and shudders. Wolfgang is on his back, sucking
> at
> a gurgling bottle he is clutching with his feet. Some of the chimps are
> docile, others are looking for a fight.
>
> “Somehow . . .” Slothrop does wish the man would quit talking this way, “I
> owe him—that much.”
>
>
> What does "cut him loose" mean here?
>
> OED lists two possible meanings:
>
> P.2.a.i.i.
> To cut (someone or something) away from an anchor or restraint (literal
> and
> figurative); to free, release.
>
> P.2.a.i.ii.
> Originally U.S. figurative. To cast (someone or something) adrift; spec.
> to
> put an end to a relationship with (a person); to give (something) up.
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>
>