manfrombelow
Master Don Juan
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2021
- Messages
- 1,715
- Reaction score
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- Age
- 37
Hi guys,
I'm reading the novella "All You Zombies" by Robert A. Heinlein. But since English is not my mother tongue, I encountered very early on one obstacle as followed:
"The Unmarried Mother was a man twenty–five years old, no taller than I am, childish features and a touchy
temper. I didn’t like his looks—I never had—but he was a lad I was here to recruit, he was my boy. I gave him
my best barkeep’s smile.
Maybe I’m too critical. He wasn’t swish; his nickname came from what he always said when some nosy type
asked him his line: “I’m an unmarried mother.” If he felt less than murderous he would add: “at four cents a
word. I write confession stories.”
=> I didn't get the bolded part. What does the word "line" here mean?
I'm reading the novella "All You Zombies" by Robert A. Heinlein. But since English is not my mother tongue, I encountered very early on one obstacle as followed:
"The Unmarried Mother was a man twenty–five years old, no taller than I am, childish features and a touchy
temper. I didn’t like his looks—I never had—but he was a lad I was here to recruit, he was my boy. I gave him
my best barkeep’s smile.
Maybe I’m too critical. He wasn’t swish; his nickname came from what he always said when some nosy type
asked him his line: “I’m an unmarried mother.” If he felt less than murderous he would add: “at four cents a
word. I write confession stories.”
=> I didn't get the bolded part. What does the word "line" here mean?
