does it hold water? and a babbled word...

Question

0  1) The "and not old and dirty, as if it had been there a thousand years" can not hold water logically. Because if the shirt had been there a thousand years, it would be very old and dirty. Do you agree with me? And should we corret it as "and old and dirty, as if it had been there a thousand years?" 02br02br00  2) The "schmirt" in "Shirt, schmirt, who gives a ***" is just a babbled word here, meaning "whatsoever?" so "who gives a ***......" 02br02br00Context:02br00 "Hey!" Beaver says. " *** me Freddy! Some kid's shirt!"02br00  It is indeed. Red and white, and not old and dirty, as if it had been there a thousand years. In fact, it looks almost new.02br00 "Shirt, 01b00schmirt02b00, who gives a ***" Jonesy wants to know. "Let's just-"0-

Clive · Accepted Answer

0Hi,02br
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01font001) The "and not old and dirty, as if it had been there a thousand years" can not hold water 00<<< an idea that 'can not hold water' is an idea that is incorrect or inconsistent in some way.00 Because if the shirt had been there a thousand years, it would be very old and dirty. Do you agree with me? And should we corret it as "and 00<<< yes, sounds like a good idea 00old and dirty, as if it had been there a thousand years?" 02br
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00 2) The "schmirt" in "Shirt, schmirt, who gives a ***" is just a babbled word here, meaning "whatsoever?" 00<<< The speaker is just playing with the word 'shirt', finding meaningless sounds that rhymne. This is usually done to show that the word is unimportant. eg If I think grammar is unimportant, I might say 'grammar, schlammar'.02font02br
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01font00 so "who gives a ***......" 02font00The asterisks indicate a swear-word of some kind.02br
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01font00Context:02font02br
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01font00 "Hey!" Beaver says. "*** me Freddy! Some kid's shirt!"02font02br
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01font00 It is indeed. Red and white, and not old and dirty, as if it had been there a thousand years. In fact, it looks almost new.02font02br
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01font00 "Shirt, 01b00schmirt02b00, who gives a ***" Jonesy wants to know. "Let's just-"02font02br
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00Best wishes, Clive0-

NL888 · Answer

0Thank you Clive. You've always given me an excellent reply.0-

does it hold water? and a babbled word...

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