[General] be off my peck

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to help to me to interpret the phrase in bold in the following sentences?
Frank, are you hungry?

Not, the least in the world. Completely off my peck in fact.

Be off my peck = have no appetite, be off one’s oats

Thanks for your efforts.

Regard,

V

 

[Rover_KE]

I've never heard this one, Vil. Where did you find it?

I'm guessing it's not Thackeray this time.

Rover

 

[vil]

Hi Rover KE,

You made a right guess. The key phrase is from Shaw’s “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” . To the best of my knowledge, B.Shaw has a good reputation and is person with world renown. I know it as a fact at least in my area.

I hope, you wouldn’t get angry with me for my intrusive showing an inclination for strange English phrases?

Regards,

V.

 

[BobK]

This could be related to the word 'peckish' (which is currently used, to mean 'a bit hungry': 'I'm stuffed' ... 'I'm peckish' ... 'I could eat a horse' are on a continuum of hungriness from 'not at all' to 'very'!)

Either 'peck' used to be in common use, and 'peckish' shows it as a fossil, or Shaw's character was playfully neologizing (combining the expression 'off my food' - a common idiom meaning 'having lost my appetite' - with the word 'peckish').

b

 

[Rover_KE]

Hi Rover KE,



I hope, you wouldn’t get angry with me for my intrusive showing an inclination for strange English phrases?

Regards,

V.

Angry, Vil? Never!

I admire your thirst for knowledge, and a few of your posts have taught me expressions I had never heard before.

It would often be useful, though, if you were to give the source and/or author of your quotations.

Bob has given an excellent answer to this question, in my opinion. It sounds very Wodehousian - like something Bertie Wooster would say.

Rover

 

[konungursvia]

I think the interpretation is correct. With Shaw, Shakespeare, Faulkner and a handful of others, we don't ask if it exists, we just admire its expressiveness.

 

[BobK]

...

It sounds very Wodehousian - like something Bertie Wooster would say.

Rover

I thought of Wodehouse too ('plummy' rather than Shavian!)

b

 

[Barb_D]

I thought of Wodehouse too ('plummy' rather than Shavian!)

b

Excuse me, I understand the Wodehouse comment, but not the parenthetical remark. Could you explain that part to me, please?

 

[vil]

A try at random.

Wilfred Hyde-White is plummy, apple-cheeked and confiding.
Shvian = characteristic for Shaw’s style


V.

 

[Barb_D]

Wilfred Hyde-White is plummy, apple-cheeked and confiding.
Shvian = characteristic for Show’s style


V.

I don't understand what you mean by plummy or apple-cheeked, and who is Show?

 

[vil]

Sorry, but I am Vil, not omniscient Bob, and by the same token you are in my thread. You wandered from the subject. It is very bad manners to jump from issue to issue. This applies at least for my area.

Regarding to your mordant question "Who is Show " you may make inquires in my original post above.

http://www.answers.com/topic/george-bernard-shaw

V.

 

[Barb_D]

Oh, be very, VERY sure, Vil, that I will NEVER post in a thread you start again. Ever. It surely would be a shame if anyone else ever learned anything besides you, wouldn't it.

 

[BobK]

Well, I hadn't thought of the plummy accent angle, though I should've done. Wodehouse's first name was Pelham, and his pet name (used by family, friends, and poseurs ;-)) was 'Plum'.

b