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Sat 15 Dec, 2012 05:28 am
"We were the last standing survivors of Coach Fortunato's and Coach McHugh's legendary Marine Corps boot camp for 115-pound youth football. Each summer, without fail, these two hard-ass drill instructors blistered and chased off scores of teenage boys before kickoff of the first preseason game. Their tactics produced perennial winners that oozed character. But not man characters. Only a handful of kids made the grade -- kids as hard as nails. They called us 'The Dirty Dozen.'"-----Edwin Sprague The Z Factor
In this paragraph, what do the word "character" and "blister" mean?
Character means those attributes which we admire in a person; here, specifically, the attributes of a strong, masculine type of person. Blister means, in this case, to use intimidation and abusive comments to the point that people were cowed and depressed to the point that they would leave rather than finish the course. If you burn yourself, it will raise a blister on your skin, and it is being used figuratively in that sense. Only those boys who could withstand the verbal abuse and intimidation would complete the course.
@Setanta,
Good answer, Set. You missed the main ?.
What does "ooze character" mean here?
@Justin Xu,
Blistered can also mean in the literal sense, that they were driven to blood or almost, that they oozed character means they were key focus in the minds of all in the proximate area during a game. They have gestures, confidence and team skill of exceptional clarity and poise.
@Justin Xu,
Why does china hide language in itself, and itself in language?
I presume it defaulted to that through the numerous branches of meaning that split.
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