GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
12:24 Jul 28, 2012 |
English language (monolingual) [PRO] General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||||
| Selected response from: Charles Davis Spain Local time: 21:37 | ||||||
Grading comment
|
immemorial to all his order for longer than can be remembered, and for all members of his order Explanation: That's how I understand it! |
| |
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade) |
immemorial to all his order mincers have been putting on such suits before mincing for longer than any of them can remember Explanation: Yes, "immemorial" means "beyond memory", and "order", as the context suggests, means here a rank or class of person, with the suggestion of a fraternity, a closed society with its own rituals and ceremonies: perhaps a religious order, perhaps an aristocratic order, perhaps (most relevantly here) a guild. In context, the important point here is that this phrase refers to "investiture". What has just been described is how the "mincer" on a whaling ship, whose job is to "mince" or cut up whale blubber, first puts on a protective suit made from the skin of the sperm whale's "grandissimus": its penis. http://theoldyorker.com/2008/09/12/moby-dick-joke/ So the "investiture" referred to is a ceremonial act, like investiture into an order of knighthood or some guild, for example, carried out by all members of this particular fraternity, that of mincers on whaling ships. Thus "immemorial to all his order" means that this "investiture", putting on the skin of a sperm whale's penis before mincing the blubber, has been carried out by mincers for longer than any of them can remember; it is immemorial to (beyond the memory of) any member of this order (any mincer). This is, quite obviously, a humorous passage. |
| |
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade) |
Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.
You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.