whole turkeys whose wings have been clipped by the pande

Forums: Grammar, English
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Is "turkey wings are clipped" figurative or actual ("the wings are cut short")?

Normally with wings you can fly afar. But lockdowns due to the pandemic restrict your journey as if your wings were clipped. So it can be figuravtive.

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Cooks around the country are just starting to calculate menus and decide how many guests they can safely host for Thanksgiving. But for months, the people who grow and sell the centerpiece of the meal have been doing their own kind of turkey math.

Just how many whole turkeys will Americans cook this year for a holiday whose wings have been clipped by the pandemic?

“That’s the big question on the tip of everybody’s tongue,” said Stew Leonard Jr., who expects to sell 20 percent fewer big turkeys at the seven stores his family owns in the Northeast.

Source: NYTimes
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/08/dining/thanksgiving-turkey-coronavirus.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur

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Type: Question • Score: 0 • Views: 892 • Replies: 14

View best answer, chosen by oristarA

@oristarA,

It's referring to holidays being cut short. It's a play on words.

1 Reply

@chai2,

chai2 wrote:

It's referring to holidays being cut short. It's a play on words.

Do holidays have wings?

3 Replies

@oristarA,

Metaphorically, sure.

0 Replies

@oristarA,

oristarA wrote:

chai2 wrote:

It's referring to holidays being cut short. It's a play on words.

Do holidays have wings?

No. That’s why it’s a ******* play on words.
Jesus wept

0 Replies

@oristarA,

Quote:

“That’s the big question on the tip of everybody’s tongue,”

I was told that, "What's the difference between a cliche and a clitoris?", was the big question on the tip of everybody's tongue.

Then some lickspittle obsequiously observed with obvious obloquy that there was no difference because they both rolled off the tongue.

0 Replies

@oristarA,

oristarA wrote:

chai2 wrote:

It's referring to holidays being cut short. It's a play on words.

Do holidays have wings?

Are you a bot? You have to tell us if you're an insentient, incorporeal bot. We get it. English wasn't your first language. But clearly an earnest, unironic question like this? After almost two decades of being an active member of a2k? We have to ask you to reveal yourself (if you are in fact an AI/language learning bot) used to trawl a2k for your English learning needs.

And after 18 years of determinately and doggedly learning English, how in the hell don't you have a doctorate in the English language?

And you still haven't learned that untranslatable turns of phrases AKA idioms exist.

1 Reply

@tsarstepan,

tsarstepan wrote:

And you still haven't learned that untranslatable turns of phrases AKA idioms exist.

Are you a parrot? Do you have your own mind? Some people do keep saying the untranslatability of the language, but a prominent translator in China had his own idea: Anything is translatable! He proved hismself by his rich work of excellent translation. His name is Yang Xianyi. With his wife Gladys Yang they set a milestone for the art of translation.

What is your second language? None? How to prove yourself that you are not a bot?

1 Reply

@oristarA,

oristarA wrote:

tsarstepan wrote:

And you still haven't learned that untranslatable turns of phrases AKA idioms exist.

Are you a parrot? Do you have your own mind? Some people do keep saying the untranslatability of the language, but a prominent translator in
China had his own idea:

Quote:

Anything is translatable! He proved hismself [sic] by his rich work of excellent translation. His name is Yang Xianyi. With his wife Gladys Yang [sic] they set a milestone for the art of translation.

Yet you, yourself, can't translate it on your own and must come here for free labor to do your job?

When you scientifically dissect an idiom or poetic metaphor, you kind of kill it. It's literary guts get lost in the bloody translation. And the fact you keep needing our help to do so for almost two decades?

Clearly, you're no Yang Xianyi or Gladys Yang.

2 Replies

@tsarstepan,

I don’t know why people are still wasting their time with this idiot.

He’s incapable of learning, if you correct his half arsed reasoning he becomes nasty.

It’s a thankless exercise.

1 Reply

@tsarstepan,

tsarstepan wrote:

Yet you, yourself, can't translate it on your own and must come here for free labor to do your job?

What is free labor? The data shows that I posted about 7 threads last week, 3 of them were about Trump's tweets. Do you understand King Trump's English? Yes or No? If your answer is Yes, then you are a liar because the whole world, including those professors who teach English for a living, have been struggling to understand what King Trump was and is saying. If your answer is No, do you seek help from others? Do you come to them for free labor to do your job?

King Trump has made the US deeply divided, and you appear trying the divide the world. The American citizens need better communication among themselves and the world citizens need to better understand each other.

tsarstepan wrote:

When you scientifically dissect an idiom or poetic metaphor, you kind of kill it. It's literary guts get lost in the bloody translation. And the fact you keep needing our help to do so for almost two decades?

Clearly, you're no Yang Xianyi or Gladys Yang.

What is "our"? You can only represent yourself and can't speak for others.
Your logic about idiom translation reveals your ignorance of the art. The dissection will be not appreciated by a good translator like Yang. He appreciates meaning module (the core of the meaning of an idiom), seeking their counterparts. For example, "kick the bucket" means "to die", and Chinese idiom "qiào biàn zi" (literally means "raise the braid") is its counterpart. So the translation can be perfectly completed.

1 Reply

@izzythepush,

OK. The loser izzy comes to show off his poor soul and meaningless life.

0 Replies

@oristarA,

Understanding what Trump says isn’t difficult, the man is an idiot, and most of what he says is idiotic.

The only people who struggle to understand this simpleton are slow witted buffoons who confuse incoherence with being enigmatic.

whole turkeys whose wings have been clipped by the pande

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