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Smithy73
Senior Member
UK
English - England
- Jan 2, 2010
- #1
I came accross term in "Of Mice and Men" that I am not familiar with.
Candy, the aged cripple, says something along the lines of "Just as soon as I can't swamp out no more bunk houses they'll put me on the county". What is putting someone on the county? Seeing as the book is set in the middle of the Great Depression I am presuming that there was no social security (perhaps provided by the county), so what does this mean?
Thanks in advance for your answers.
T
teksch
Senior Member
San Diego, California
English - American
- Jan 2, 2010
- #2
At that time various counties had what was called homes for the poor. To be put on the county meant that one would live in a county home for the poor.
cuchuflete
Senior Member
Maine, EEUU
EEUU-inglés
- Jan 2, 2010
- #3
Hello Smithy73,
I haven't read that book in decades, so I'll just make a guess: it was a reference to some local public welfare, possibly including residence in a country run home for the poor. Social Security in the U.S. came a bit later (1935), but there were local providers of aid to the poor since pre-revolutionary days. I once glanced at the town meeting minutes for my tiny village from the late 1700s, and was pleasantly surprised to see a small sum set aside from taxes for "aid to the poor".
S
Smithy73
Senior Member
UK
English - England
- Jan 2, 2010
- #4
I presume that these county-run "houses for the poor" were pretty grim places?
cuchuflete
Senior Member
Maine, EEUU
EEUU-inglés
- Jan 2, 2010
- #5
That would be a fair assumption. They were of the same level of luxury as the work houses in England.
This one, in Southwell, was pretty grim. I expect the U.S. versions were no merrier.
Here is a description of one in Virginia.
The Washtenaw County Poor House, on Washtenaw near Platt, housed a variety of unfortunates, from the insane, handicapped, retarded, and injured, to the just plain down on their luck. An 1830 Michigan law required each county to have a poor house.
Read more in The County Poor House by Grace Shackman.
http://aaobserver.aadl.org/gallery/aaobserver/oct1986-1.jpg.html
Last edited:
panjandrum
Senior Member
Belfast, Ireland
English-Ireland (top end)
- Jan 2, 2010
- #6
It seems that "on the county" is probably the US equivalent of "on the parish" in England.
D
dropscone
New Member
France
French
- Oct 12, 2019
- #7
I agree with the previous participants about "on the county" but what does "swamp out "mean in this context? Is it something like keeping the bunkhouse in order ?
Keith Bradford
Senior Member
Brittany, NW France
English (Midlands UK)
- Oct 12, 2019
- #8
I think it's "swab out" -- to mop the floor.
RM1(SS)
Senior Member
Connecticut
English - US (Midwest)
- Oct 13, 2019
- #9
Cleaning the floor by dumping a bucket of water on it, turning the bunkhouse into a figurative swamp.
A previous thread:
Gabriel Aparta said:
Hello there, please, from Of Mice and Men:
The swamper watched him until he was settled. "I wasn't listenin'. I was jus' standin' in the shade a minute scratchin' my dog. I jus' now finished swampin' out the wash house."
What does that mean?
Thanks a lot!
Barque said:
He probably meant he had just finished cleaning out the wash house. It's probably derived from this meaning of swamp (WR dictionary): to flood or drench, esp. with water.
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