Some lop-haired, swiwel-hipped fellow ...
Marius Hancu
What do you think "lop-haired" means in this context? I imagine
it's "having a rough haircut," but am not sure of the details.
Also, does "swivel-hipped"
mean
"loose hips" or "gyrating hips?"
-----
[Jake and Anne walk through a seedy area of the town, towards the
water.]
We walked on without talking. Perhaps for the reason that if you are
in a place which looks like a cardboard stage set and is so damn
q-u-a-i-n-t, whatever you say will sound as though it had been written
by some lop-haired, swiwel-hipped fellow who lived in one of those
cardboard houses in an upstairs apartment ...
All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren, p. 349
-----
Thanks.
Marius Hancu
Pat Durkin
"Marius Hancu" <NOS...@videotron.ca> wrote in message
news:_aSnh.98120$7.80...@weber.videotron.net...
> Hello:
>
> What do you think "lop-haired" means in this context? I imagine
> it's "having a rough haircut," but am not sure of the details.
I think it refers to long hair in a cut that allows the front locks to
hang over the eye, and need the flick of the head to clear the vision.
At least, that gesture seems to fit the picture of the individual whose
walk is as below, and whose place is "so damn q-u-a-i-n-t".
>
> Also, does "swivel-hipped"
> mean
> "loose hips" or "gyrating hips?"
I think "gyrating", though "loose" might both fit. Picture those
strange strides that comedians so love to imitate in the walks of John
Wayne and Robert Mitchum. Those super-masculine types could carry that
walk off, but the writers stereo-typed below may have a number of other
gestures (shoulder and wrist movements, high-pitched giggles) that are
apparently being scorned by the author/narrator. At least, the
evocation is one of effeminacy, or of being out of touch with a real
world.
>
> -----
> [Jake and Anne walk through a seedy area of the town, towards the
> water.]
>
> We walked on without talking. Perhaps for the reason that if you are
> in a place which looks like a cardboard stage set and is so damn
> q-u-a-i-n-t, whatever you say will sound as though it had been written
> by some lop-haired, swiwel-hipped fellow who lived in one of those
> cardboard houses in an upstairs apartment ...
>
> All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren, p. 349
Having never read anything by Warren, I may once again be way off the
mark here. It made a great movie, though.
Mike Lyle
Marius Hancu wrote:
> Hello:
>
> What do you think "lop-haired" means in this context? I imagine
> it's "having a rough haircut," but am not sure of the details.
It could well mean that; but I wonder if it's here the same "lop" as in
"lop-eared rabbit" -- a rabbit with long floppy dependent ears. If so,
the hair could be very neatly cut, but long ("long" as applied to hair
is very much dependent on the fashion of the time and the attitude of
the speaker).
>
> Also, does "swivel-hipped"
> mean
> "loose hips" or "gyrating hips?"
[...]
I think the implication is of unmanliness: men were supposed to be
stiff. Probably "loose" rather than actually "gyrating".
--
Mike.
tinwhistler
Mike Lyle wrote:
> Marius Hancu wrote:
[snip]
> > What do you think "lop-haired" means in this context? I imagine
> > it's "having a rough haircut," but am not sure of the details.
>
> It could well mean that; but I wonder if it's here the same "lop" as in
> "lop-eared rabbit" -- a rabbit with long floppy dependent ears. If so,
Animals other than rabbits are "lop-eared" according to OED: here it's
entry for "lop-eared, a.:"
Also 7 lap-. [f. lop v.2 + -ed2.]
1. Of an animal: Having ears which lop or hang loosely downwards.
1687 Miege Gt. Fr. Dict. ii. s.v. Lap, Lap-eared, qui a les Oreilles
pendantes. 1692 Lond. Gaz. No. 2801/4 An Iron grey Horse, lop Ear'd.
1724 Ibid. No. 6294/3 Stolen,..a..Gelding,..a little Lop-Ear'd. 1859
Jephson Brittany v. 55 They [pigs] are long-legged,
hump-backed,..lop-eared. 1868 Darwin Anim. & Pl. I. iv. 106 English
lop-eared rabbits. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Europe x. 250 The queer
lop-eared sheep.
†¶2. [Confused with lop v.1]= crop-eared 2.
1798 C. Smith Yng. Philos. III. 26 The strait~laced lop-eared
puritans of the United States.
Getting a haircut used to be called "getting your ears lowered" -- the
connection between haircuts and ear appearances has been around for a
long time.
Aloha ~~~ Ozzie Maland ~~~ San Diego
John Dean
> Hello:
>
> What do you think "lop-haired" means in this context? I imagine
> it's "having a rough haircut," but am not sure of the details.
Hugh Grant
>
> Also, does "swivel-hipped"
> mean
> "loose hips" or "gyrating hips?"
Tommy Tune
Don Phillipson
news:_aSnh.98120$7.80...@weber.videotron.net...
> [Jake and Anne walk through a seedy area of the town, towards the
> water.]
>
> We walked on without talking. Perhaps for the reason that if you are
> in a place which looks like a cardboard stage set and is so damn
> q-u-a-i-n-t, whatever you say will sound as though it had been written
> by some lop-haired, swiwel-hipped fellow who lived in one of those
> cardboard houses in an upstairs apartment ...
>
> All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren, p. 349
> -----
1. I suggest lop-haired is an uncaught error for long-haired.
The many odd phrases MH has spotted in this novel by
now suggest it was dictated to a typist and never
adequately edited. Lop-haired is in no one's lexicon.
Lop-eared is a technical descriptor for dogs.
2. Swivel-hipped is a standard Americanism for wiggling
the hips while walking, usually applied to women. When
applied to a man, it suggests he is homosexual (as
interior decorators are widely assumed to be, cf. also
long hair.)
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
Marius Hancu
Mike Lyle wrote:
> > What do you think "lop-haired" means in this context? I imagine
> > it's "having a rough haircut," but am not sure of the details.
>
> It could well mean that; but I wonder if it's here the same "lop" as in
> "lop-eared rabbit" -- a rabbit with long floppy dependent ears. If so,
> the hair could be very neatly cut, but long ("long" as applied to hair
> is very much dependent on the fashion of the time and the attitude of
> the speaker).
OK, I'll go for this and John Dean's "Hugh Grant" ...
Thank you all.
Marius Hancu
John Dean
> "Marius Hancu" <NOS...@videotron.ca> wrote in message
> news:_aSnh.98120$7.80...@weber.videotron.net...
>
>> [Jake and Anne walk through a seedy area of the town, towards the
>> water.]
>>
>> We walked on without talking. Perhaps for the reason that if you are
>> in a place which looks like a cardboard stage set and is so damn
>> q-u-a-i-n-t, whatever you say will sound as though it had been
>> written by some lop-haired, swiwel-hipped fellow who lived in one of
>> those cardboard houses in an upstairs apartment ...
>>
>> All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren, p. 349
>> -----
>
> 1. I suggest lop-haired is an uncaught error for long-haired.
> The many odd phrases MH has spotted in this novel by
> now suggest it was dictated to a typist and never
> adequately edited. Lop-haired is in no one's lexicon.
> Lop-eared is a technical descriptor for dogs.
And rabbits. All you say is true. However, there is the verb "lop" which
has, per OED, a meaning:
1. a. intr. To hang loosely or limply; to droop; to flop or sway limply
about. Also to lop out: to protrude in an ungraceful or lop-sided manner.
...1892 Harper's Mag. June 17/1 His under jaw lopped, and his brow
contracted.
So between that and dog/rabbit analogy it seems to me a nice piece of
coinage for a hair style.
I'm sure I've seen this before (particularly in the Hugh Grantiverse), but
Yahoo says it's rare on-line. The only human-based example seems to be:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Badgers+%5Bbadgerish%5D+%5Bbadger%5D&defid=402854
"Badgers [badgerish] [badger]
These are really a cult of lop haired lads who do not belong to the human
species."
--
John Dean
Oxford
bruce bowser
> Hello:
> What do you think "lop-haired" means in this context? I imagine
> it's "having a rough haircut," but am not sure of the details.
So, I don't think anyone could have suspected Congressman Santos of lying about work at Goldman Sachs, Citibank or some of these places.