[Zul]
"Hoo!" Zul exhales as Rotemdol leaves. "Seen some weak-ass come-ons my
time, but damn! Stretch over there ain't gettin' *any* with that mess.
Still don't get why he's kickin' on this side." She pauses, then regards
the depths of her beer.
"Guess we're all running from something or other," she says, softly.
"'Course, a lotta people run *to* the 'Hill," she adds. "From the sound a'
you, you came up here, and now you're fixing to bolt, huh?"
She looks over at the young man next to her; the brashness, the wicked
smile, have disappeared like a puff of smoke. She suddenly looks very young
-- except for her eyes, deep blue caverns of lost innocence.
"What do they call you, kid?" she asks.
>In a message dated 10/11/2001 3:46:07 PM Mountain Daylight Time,
>tbk@pop.gate.mindspring.com writes:
>
>> [Zul]
>>
>> [OOC: Tim, has Zul been in the Anthill long enough to dig this patois?]
>>
>>>Gerryn takes a pull at his beer, "Nottn m'pen; bits bright. Up?"
>>
>>[The preceding I can't begin to fathom.]
>
>[Nottn = slurred "not in"]
>[m'pen = my pen, pen having a meaning similar to "crib," "scene," or "place."]
>[bits bright = it's a bit bright, bright being wealthy or "upscale." Can
>also mean "flashy."]
>[Up = Intelligence or understanding, as a question "Do you understand?" "Get
>it?" Compare with "High" meaning involved with the upper classes or looking
>out for your own interest.]
>
>>>He shrugs, "In t'stop polishin' t'street. Finger a few glitters, me.
>>>Off'n t'Anthill, no star and sky back."
>>
>>[This I think I get, except for that last part. L'il help there, Jeff?]
>
>[t'stop = to stop]
>[polishin' t'street = polishing the street, walking around, implies
>unemployment, or at least very little worthwhile to do.]
>[Finger = hold to to something a little while before using it or losing it.]
>[a few glitters = some small coins]
>[, me = placing pronouns as the final word to modify an entire sentence is
>common in Anthill slang.]
>[Off'n t'Anthill = roughly, "My Anthill, somewhere else."]
>[star and sky = infinity, forever, or a least a very long distance or period.]
>
>[Thus, "Off'n t'Anthill, no star and sky back" means, roughly, "I've left (my
>place in) the Anthill and I'm not going back" or "I can't go back."]
>
>[OCC: I'll hold back on the dialect in the future, unless people think it's
>interesting.]
