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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I am reading a short story by Michael Moorcock, written in 1990. In the story, the first-person narrator describes a hotel in Egypt, and he says:
It had the same romantic attraction, the same impossible promises. I found that, once within its tiny fly-thick lobby -- actually the communal hallway leading directly to the courtyard -- I was as lost to its appeal as any pop to his lid. I had discovered a temporary spiritual home.
I am puzzling over the phrase "any pop to his lid." I've never heard it before, and haven't been able to locate another use of it or a definition. Does anybody have an ideas?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Um--although I am puzzled as to why he said he was lost to its appeal rather than its appeal was lost to him, I think it means that although at first he thought the place was attractive, once he was actually inside, it was as likely that he would ever again think it was appealing as it was likely that carbonation would ever be restored to a can or bottle of beverage once its lid has been popped open.
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Quote:
although I am puzzled as to why he said he was lost to its appeal rather than its appeal was lost to him
... because it means exactly the opposite? 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Quote:
Quote:
although I am puzzled as to why he said he was lost to its appeal rather than its appeal was lost to him
... because it means exactly the opposite?
on the contrary.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Quote:
... it was as likely that he would ever again think it was appealing as it was likely that carbonation would ever be restored to a can or bottle of beverage once its lid has been popped open.
But, his lid?
I have no idea what this expression means...
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old hand
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old hand
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According to the OED, a "lid" can be a hat or cap, and "pop" can mean an elderly man (from "poppa", father). That would fit the bill, wouldn't it?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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well, I've heard "popped his lid", which means to lose his composure, but that doesn't seem to fit here...
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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his lid? The only sense I can make of it is that, just as the intense carbonation starts being irretrievably lost as soon as the can/bottle's lid is popped, so did the appeal of the place start being lost to him as soon as he entered it. 
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Okay, I'll try again...
If "I'm lost to its appeal", I like it.
If "it has lost its appeal", I don't like it.
"I'm lost in your eyes" doesn't mean "your eyes have lost me" or "I have lost your eyes", "in your eyes, I have lost", does it?
If you're still lost, explain why he would make a place he didn't like "a temporary spiritual home" -- some sort of self-loathing perhaps?
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veteran
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veteran
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Quote:
Okay, I'll try again...
If "I'm lost to its appeal", I like it.
If "it has lost its appeal", I don't like it.
"I'm lost in your eyes" doesn't mean "your eyes have lost me" or "I have lost your eyes", "in your eyes, I have lost", does it?
If you're still lost, explain why he would make a place he didn't like "a temporary spiritual home" -- some sort of self-loathing perhaps?
The moment a poppyhead pops a pop (a hit) to his lid (his ounce of opium) he becomes oblivious to the appeal of his surroundings, but evenso he idenitifies with the place and culture that allows the use of drugs and so hangs around.
Either that, or its like etaoin said...a missprint for "pop a lid" (a hit of Mary Jane).
Last edited by themilum; 01/08/07 06:43 PM.
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