Can you nei do her, numb? asks Dolph, suspecting the answer know. Oikkont, ken you, ninny? asks Kev, expecting the answer guess. (286.25-27)
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Joyce uses coded dialogue to show characters teasing or testing understanding.
- In plain terms
- Characters ask each other if they understand using slang.
- What can you take from it?
- Language can test who understands the group.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who belongs to the group?
- How does slang work?
Another view
The slang is obscure and hard to interpret without Dublin context.
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'Tis as human a little story as paper could well carry (115.36)
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Permalink to quote #48 I am a worker, a tombstone mason, anxious to pleace averyburies and jully glad when Christmas comes his once ayear.
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