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Sun 11 May, 2014 12:36 am
“I am glad you have come, sir. It has been a long evening, and I don’t think my nerve is as good as it was.”
“Your nerve, Walters? I should not have thought you had a nerve in your body.”
“Well, sir, it’s this lonely, silent house and the queer thing in the kitchen. Then when you tapped at the window I thought it had come again.”
“That what had come again?”
“The devil, sir, for all I know. It was at the window.”
“What was at the window, and when?”
“It was just about two hours ago. The light was just fading. I was sitting reading in the chair. I don’t know what made me look up, but there was a face looking in at me through the lower pane. Lord, sir, what a face it was! I’ll see it in my dreams.”
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1. Does NERVE here mean courage?
2. Does the red sentence mean the daylight is going off?
@WBYeats,
1. yes
2. yes. Light is fading, night is falling, the twilight, it's getting dark.
@WBYeats,
Quote:“I am glad you have come, sir. It has been a long evening, and I don’t think my nerve is as good as it was.”
“Your nerve, Walters? I should not have thought you had a nerve in your body.”
'My nerve' is now an archaic way of describing fear or, perhaps better, the lack of it. If your nerve was strong or solid, you were calm or content; if your nerve was less than strong or good, you were feeling some panic or fear or
nervousness, hence that is why the fellow answers, “Your nerve, Walters? I should not have thought you had a nerve in your body.” meaning 'I wouldn't have thought you would be afraid of anything.'
'Nerve' has changed in its use and meaning over the years, I'm guessing the above dialogue comes from before 1900. Right?
Joe(carry on)Nation
@Joe Nation,
Is that your opinion, sir? To disagree with me? What a nerve!
@McTag,
McTag wrote:
Is that your opinion, sir? To disagree with me? What a nerve!
Yeah, I haven't seen much consistency in his desription "'My nerve' is now an archaic way of
describing fear or, perhaps better,
the lack of it. If your nerve was strong or solid, you were calm or content".
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