Heart of a Samurai Language and Communication Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

"The night afore we was to ship out," Biscuit began conspiratorially, "Jolly took a dickey run and met his oppose. He was already half seas over by the time he looked up with them and very shortly they was all three sheets in the wind."

What are they talking about? Manjiro wondered.

"That Jolly, he used to bleed the monkey, all right."

Isaiah nodded. "He was a shonkey, too."

Manjiro sighed. He would never understand English! (2.12.28-32)

Slang: the downfall for any foreign language learner. Hey, even we have to admit that the phrase "bleed the monkey" has us scratching our heads a little… a reminder that slang changes over time, too.

Quote #8

"That is interesting," Captain Whitfield said, "because we call this two-hour period of time the 'dog watch.'" He nodded to the sky, where the first stars were appearing. "Maybe we call it that because of that star." He pointed to a brilliant star and said, "That's Sirius, the dog star. Do you call it that?"

"No," said Manjiro. "We call that Aoboshi, blue star." (2.14.26-27)

Captain Whitfield's trying to find some common linguistic ground with Manjiro, but it's not working out. No biggie, though—languages (and names) are different because cultures are different. The captain is chill about that (he even goes on to agree that the "dog star" is indeed very blue).

Quote #9

"So you overheard our conversation, did you? I hope you know that it is impolite to eavesdrop."

Manjiro hung his head. "I am sorry to eaves drip."

"Eavesdrop," the captain corrected. (3.15.61-63)

To be honest, we think "eaves drip" is just too cool as far as mistakes go. Why is it "eavesdrop" and not "eaves drip"? Ever think about that?