Jun 12, 2021 14:19
2 yrs ago
27 viewers *
English term
tugging their cuffs
English
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
“They come in tugging their cuffs,” Tim says. “They’re here
about every afternoon, drinking pitchers they don’t pay for, ordering
sandwiches, burgers . . . You seen the price of beef lately? Buns?”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Now they want an envelope, too?”
Tim is a bar owner and "they" are a local Italian gang wanting a payoff. I'm unclear as to what cuffs are meant here - shirt cuffs, metal cuffs or is it some idiom I'm not familiar with?
about every afternoon, drinking pitchers they don’t pay for, ordering
sandwiches, burgers . . . You seen the price of beef lately? Buns?”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Now they want an envelope, too?”
Tim is a bar owner and "they" are a local Italian gang wanting a payoff. I'm unclear as to what cuffs are meant here - shirt cuffs, metal cuffs or is it some idiom I'm not familiar with?
Responses
| 4 +1 | tugging (at) their shirt cuffs |
Yvonne Gallagher
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Change log
Jun 13, 2021 14:27: philgoddard changed "Field" from "Art/Literary" to "Other"
Responses
+1
21 hrs
Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Ireland
Native in English
&
English
Specializes in field
Ireland
right word, right place. everytime
Native in: English (Variants: US, Canadian, Irish, UK) 
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English, and 1 more.
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tugging (at) their shirt cuffs
pretty sure this is all it is. I take it as menacing body language as the hoods or gangsters "drawing attention to their arms or fists. You don't pay, this is what you get." especially if these are the enforcers coming in to the bar.
I doubt the mafia bosses (the ones more likely to be in the expensive suits and concerned about appearence as Daryo suggests), would be coming around to look for the envelopes but would send their heavies to show the threat. They could , of course, come looking for free food and drink of course, and the rest of your context may show that.
It's body language in any case, whether threatening or just show (off)
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Note added at 1 day 11 hrs (2021-06-14 02:08:35 GMT) Post-grading
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Glad to have helped
I doubt the mafia bosses (the ones more likely to be in the expensive suits and concerned about appearence as Daryo suggests), would be coming around to look for the envelopes but would send their heavies to show the threat. They could , of course, come looking for free food and drink of course, and the rest of your context may show that.
It's body language in any case, whether threatening or just show (off)
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 11 hrs (2021-06-14 02:08:35 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------
Glad to have helped
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
philgoddard
: I don't think it's menacing in itself, though I'm sure the men are. It's just something you do, like straightening your tie. You tug them to make sure just the right amount of shirt is showing from under your jacket sleeves.
33 mins
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I offered both alternatives and Asker will know from content which fits best. Fact is I answered the question asked so why the neutral?
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| agree |
AllegroTrans
: The fact that they are a gang and don't pay does rather suggest that it is menacing behaviour. Asker should be able to tell from the rest of the story.
5 hrs
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Many thanks:-)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks a lot. "
Discussion
But I'm not sure that it's necessary some kind of "menacing body language" - I would guess that it's more about being obsessed with own looks, trying to "dress to impress". A variation on "making sure the tie knot was done properly". Like emulating "The Dapper Don" ...
same meaning as here:
The Hod King: Book Three of the Books of Babel - Google Books Resulthttps://books.google.co.uk › books
Josiah Bancroft · 2019 · Fiction
When they saw the ladies and their governesses, Francis and Reggie both straightened and took to tugging their cuffs and smoothing their hair like a pair of ...
I would interpret "tugging their cuffs" in the sense of "showing off their expensive suits".