my friends and i are debating and none of us are winning. Someone said (from the novel "Of mice and Men") that lennie says he wants to "live of the fatta the lan" and said it meant he wants to live of a place, the fatter the land the better. It doesnt sound right though. any ideas?
2007-01-18 04:47:23 · 7 answers · asked by Ensee 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
The term is to live off of the "Fat of the Land."
To survive off of what the bounty of nature provides. To hunt for your food and harvest your crops. You reap what you sow.
Land that is "fat" means that game is plentiful. There is plenty of fresh water. The soil is fertile. There is fish in the streams and lakes and rivers.
2007-01-18 04:50:52 · answer #1 · answered by kja63 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
The phrase is modified from 'the fat of the land', originally meant to live off the land, eg when the harvest was good. People now use it to mean to live really well.
The Fat of the Land
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye: lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan;
And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.
-- Genesis 45: 17-18 (KJV)
Diet-conscious modern readers may have some trouble with the concept of "fat of the land," which in the Bible means "the earth's choicest produce." But in those leaner times, fat was harder to come by than it is in the modern West. It's a sign of the times that this sense of "fat" is now obsolete, except in the expression "fat of the land."
2007-01-18 13:01:11 · answer #2 · answered by my precious 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To live Off the fat of the land, to live well, want for nothing
2007-01-18 13:02:19 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It means he wants to live off the fat of the land, in other words he wants to do very little work, a form of assett stripping if you will.
2007-01-18 12:52:13 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is a list of Of Mice and Men idioms here: http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Belmont_HS/mice/idioms.html
According to this page it means having the best of everything and living from what they can sow and reap..
2007-01-18 12:55:01 · answer #5 · answered by Cat 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's 'fat of the land'. Living off the fat of the land means living well.
2007-01-18 12:53:32 · answer #6 · answered by penny century 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it mean he want to feast on jade goody. the sick puppy. errr.
2007-01-18 13:00:56 · answer #7 · answered by kingericthe7th 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋