Sep 13, 2021 20:19
2 yrs ago
44 viewers *
English term
the place was cheek to jowl with business suits, male and female
English
Other
Poetry & Literature
"Most of the bar stools were taken. The place was cheek to jowl with business suits, male and female" (WordReference).
My question is about the imagery in the second sentence. As I see it, the narrator's focus is on what people are wearing more so than on the wearers as people. I see a bunch of business suits crowded in the bar but no faces (other than their gender). Is that the correct imagery? I need to know so I can translate it properly into Portuguese.
I never heard about objectification or depersonalization as a figure of speech, it sounds like that's what it is. http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/objectificati... (Any insights on this are most welcome.)
My question is about the imagery in the second sentence. As I see it, the narrator's focus is on what people are wearing more so than on the wearers as people. I see a bunch of business suits crowded in the bar but no faces (other than their gender). Is that the correct imagery? I need to know so I can translate it properly into Portuguese.
I never heard about objectification or depersonalization as a figure of speech, it sounds like that's what it is. http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/objectificati... (Any insights on this are most welcome.)
Responses
+7
31 mins
Selected
The place was full of business suits, male and female, crowded closely together
"Cheek to jowl" has nothing to do with the businesspeople's faces - it's an expression meaning that they are crowded tightly together. (Jowl is another word for cheek, so the image is of people being packed so tightly together that their cheeks are touching.)
But I agree with you that the people are being depersonalised as a figure of speech. It's also an example of synecdoche (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synecdoche).
But I agree with you that the people are being depersonalised as a figure of speech. It's also an example of synecdoche (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synecdoche).
Peer comment(s):
agree |
writeaway
: dictionaries can be very useful
6 mins
|
agree |
Clauwolf
31 mins
|
agree |
Sarah Bessioud
39 mins
|
agree |
Charlotte Fleming
: "Cheek by jowl" is more normal than "cheek to jowl" but the image created is definitely de-personalised: a bunch of suits, rather than real people, almost as though they were puppets or shop-window dummies.
1 hr
|
neutral |
Andrew Bramhall
: " business" is superfluous, they're just ' suits', and ' crowded closely together' is a bit awkward sounding to me;
2 hrs
|
agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: yes, first person to mention this is synecdoche. Precisely. "Suits" on their own is sufficient these days as this one is so well known.
3 hrs
|
agree |
David Hollywood
: "suits" just means business people male or female and they were bunched up
5 hrs
|
agree |
James A. Walsh
12 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you!"
2 hrs
The joint was crawling with suits, men and women
" cheek to jowl" just means ' very close together';
14 hrs
The place was packed with male and female "suits"
the place was cheek to jowl with business suits, male and female => The place was packed with male and female "suits"
informal
an executive in a business or organization, typically one regarded as exercising influence in an impersonal way.
"maybe now the suits in Washington will listen"
Dictionary
Definitions from Oxford Languages ·
plural noun: suits
informal
an executive in a business or organization, typically one regarded as exercising influence in an impersonal way.
"maybe now the suits in Washington will listen"
Dictionary
Definitions from Oxford Languages ·
plural noun: suits
Discussion
It's not necessarily about depersonalisation though that is the effect
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synecdoche
As for "dictionaries are useful", well yes they are but they don't always give the full picture or include conversational terms. If something is used often enough by native speakers it usually makes it into the dictionary after a few years anyway.
I've heard people (mis)using "cheek to jowl" so not exactly unusual
https://en.wiktionary.org › wiki › cheek_by_jowl
Usage notes
The similar expression cheek to cheek implies a cozy, romantic situation, while cheek by jowl implies rather the opposite, being cramped or crowded. cheek by jowl is chiefly British, while cheek to jowl is chiefly American usage.
Here, I think the writer has used the wrong metaphor; something like 'rubbing shoulders' would probably have worked better, to simply say that the place was jam packed with (people in) business suits — which is a shorthand way of describing quite a lot about the bar. Antoher expression used for a crowded place is 'heaving with...'
‘the place was very suitable with business suits’