P
piney
Member
US- Midwest
Bilingual - English & Korean
- Oct 16, 2008
- #1
Oh, strawberries don’t taste as they used to and the thighs of women have lost their clutch!
This quote is from John Steinbeck's East of Eden.
What is exactly meant by "the thighs of women have lost their clutch"?
Thank you.
winklepicker
Senior Member
Kent
English (UK)
- Oct 16, 2008
- #2
Hi Piney. I think you can work this one out if you try (goes into teacher mode!). Do you understand the meanings of the individual words in this context? Clutch, for example?
If you do, what does the phrase mean literally (ie when the meanings of the individual words are put together)?
S
St. Nick
Senior Member
English
- Oct 16, 2008
- #3
It means that a woman's passionate love-making has now lost its appeal. But the statement is pure sarcasm. He's talking about the imaginary loss of idyllic bygone days.
P
piney
Member
US- Midwest
Bilingual - English & Korean
- Oct 16, 2008
- #4
winklepicker said:
Hi Piney. I think you can work this one out if you try (goes into teacher mode!). Do you understand the meanings of the individual words in this context? Clutch, for example?
If you do, what does the phrase mean literally (ie when the meanings of the individual words are put together)?
There seems to be some sexual connotation to it, but I don't want to guess.
Grop
Senior Member
Provence
français
- Oct 16, 2008
- #5
Although clutch is used as a noun here, I think this meaning is particularly helpful:
dictionary.com said:
–verb (used with object)
3.Slang. to spellbind; grip a person's emotions, attention, or interest: Garbo movies really clutch me.
P
piney
Member
US- Midwest
Bilingual - English & Korean
- Oct 16, 2008
- #6
St. Nick said:
It means that a woman's passionate love-making has now lost its appeal. But the statement is pure sarcasm. He's talking about the imaginary loss of idyllic bygone days.
Thank you for your confirming my suspicion. I wasn't sure whether it meant women's refusal of men's approach by holding their thighs tight or passionate love-making.
I am still not sure why he said something like that. One would think that love making became more passionate at the turn of the century as the society became more open.
Grop
Senior Member
Provence
français
- Oct 16, 2008
- #7
If some day you feel that strawberries don’t taste as they used to, maybe they aren't as good. Or maybe the trouble is *you* have lost interest in them.
Loob
Senior Member
English UK
- Oct 16, 2008
- #8
This is an old man's lament: nothing is as good as it was in the past, the strawberries don't taste as good, women's thighs don't grip as tightly ...
GreenWhiteBlue
Banned
The City of New York
USA - English
- Oct 16, 2008
- #9
At one time, a woman's thighs would never be seen when she was dressed, and it would be considered an absolute attention-getter if a woman's thighs were revealed. As the years passed, women's clothing became shorter and more revealing. In a world where women's thighs can be seen without comment on every public beach, and in which women wear shorts and other garb that covers less of the female body than was covered by great-grandmother's undergarments, a woman's thighs no longer grab attention the way they used to. In other words, they have lost their clutch.
P
piney
Member
US- Midwest
Bilingual - English & Korean
- Oct 16, 2008
- #10
Grop said:
If some day you feel that strawberries don’t taste as they used to, maybe they aren't as good. Or maybe the trouble is *you* have lost interest in them.
So, it has nothing to do with people collectively or society but it can happen to anyone at any time. Thank you for clarifying it.
N
Nymeria
Senior Member
Barbados
English - Barbadian/British/educated in US universities blend
- Oct 16, 2008
- #11
It is unlikely to mean that the women are refusing the men's approach because it that the thighs have lost their clutch, not they are being clutched tightly together.
I understand it to mean that he is no longer particularly impressed with the women and the love making in the area. The women and their thighs have lost the appeal, their pull, the ability to attract and spellbind. It can be taken both literally and figuratively. In the literal sense, the women's thighs no longer have the tone and strength associated with youth so their owners can no longer clutch a man tightly in a way that he finds sexy and pleasurable. The woman (and their droopy thighs) are past their prime. The figurative sense was explained above.
This may not necessarily mean that lovemaking wasn't passionate for others or that its passion hadn't increased in general, just that the specific character wasn't too keen on the offerings anymore. I could be wrong about this part thought, seeing that I haven't read the book.
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