Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
have a way of cryting
English answer:
*the unsurprising consequence (of father's action) is that the children go hungry and cry
Added to glossary by
Yvonne Gallagher
Feb 19, 2015 18:26
9 yrs ago
2 viewers *
English term
have a way of cryting
English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
Law Thriller Fiction
Atticus told about the Ewell, antogonist and the misbehavior of Bob Ewell
“It’s against the law, all right,” said my father, “and it’s certainly bad, but when a
man spends his relief checks on green whiskey his children have a way of crying
from hunger pains. I don’t know of any landowner around here who begrudges
those children any game their father can hit.”
What does "have a way of crying" mean here? Is it simply like they cry from suffering the hunger?
Thank you sooo much
“It’s against the law, all right,” said my father, “and it’s certainly bad, but when a
man spends his relief checks on green whiskey his children have a way of crying
from hunger pains. I don’t know of any landowner around here who begrudges
those children any game their father can hit.”
What does "have a way of crying" mean here? Is it simply like they cry from suffering the hunger?
Thank you sooo much
Change log
Feb 25, 2015 11:15: Yvonne Gallagher Created KOG entry
Responses
+1
2 hrs
Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Ireland
Native in English
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English
Specializes in field
Ireland
right word, right place. everytime
Native in: English (Variants: Irish, UK, US, Canadian) 
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English, and 1 more.
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Selected
*the unsurprising consequence (of father's action) is that the children go hungry and cry
The problem here is that the first part of the sentnce has to be taken into account as well
Atticus is explaining that Bob Ewell is a bad father becuase instead of buying food for his kids he spends the money on whiskey:"when a man spends his relief checks on green whiskey".
The consequence of this is that the poor children cry from hunger. So yes, agree with Tony's "tend to" here =have a tendency to but think it doesn't go far enough in the explanation. It's a natural consequence of this type of bad parenting/neglect so of course there is no surprise.
That's why he goes on to say that no one begrudges it when the kids are fed with illicitly poached game that the father poaches (kills on other landowners' land).
Of course the story goes on to imply that the father, Bob Ewell is having incestuous relations with his daughter. Not a nice man at all...
Atticus is explaining that Bob Ewell is a bad father becuase instead of buying food for his kids he spends the money on whiskey:"when a man spends his relief checks on green whiskey".
The consequence of this is that the poor children cry from hunger. So yes, agree with Tony's "tend to" here =have a tendency to but think it doesn't go far enough in the explanation. It's a natural consequence of this type of bad parenting/neglect so of course there is no surprise.
That's why he goes on to say that no one begrudges it when the kids are fed with illicitly poached game that the father poaches (kills on other landowners' land).
Of course the story goes on to imply that the father, Bob Ewell is having incestuous relations with his daughter. Not a nice man at all...
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Arabic & More
: Exactly!
8 hrs
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Many thanks. Glad to see not everyone just jumps on the bandwagon...
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
12 mins
to cry with pain
Yes, they are so hungry their stomachs hurt.
Note from asker:
| I Love your explanation! Thank you sooo much! |
+7
11 mins
tend to cry
This is a typical EN idiom, and yes, it basically does mean 'they would cry because they were hungry'
The use of 'have a way of...-ing' adds a nuance of meaning, along the lines of 'have regrettable tendency to...' — often used with irony.
"Cars have a way of breaking down just when you're in a hurry to get somewhere and it's raining" = "Cars always seem to break down at just the wrong moment..."
Here, the irony is clear — we should hardly be surprised, let alone 'inconvenienced' that hungry kids cry.
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Note added at 19 minutes (2015-02-19 18:46:14 GMT)
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There is of course another, completely different way you might find 'have a way of crying' with a quite different meaning (which I'm pretty sure wouldn't apply here), e.g.:
"Some people have a way of crying that actually sounds as if they are laughing."
Note that in this meaning, it would be likely to be followed by 'that' (explicit or implied).
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Note added at 15 heures (2015-02-20 09:34:11 GMT)
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It seems to me that father is trying to explain why the children are 'poaching', and justify their action, which is equally condoned by the landowners, who are aware of the problem.
"but when a man spends his relief checks on green whiskey his children have a way of crying from hunger pains"
"it's hardly surprising that his children do cry from huinger pains when a man spends his relief checks on ... whiskey"
Perhaps 'irony' is too strong a word to use... but the expression 'have a way of ...-ing' does have that sort of connotation in the background, which I feel sure is why the writer would have chosen it here.
The use of 'have a way of...-ing' adds a nuance of meaning, along the lines of 'have regrettable tendency to...' — often used with irony.
"Cars have a way of breaking down just when you're in a hurry to get somewhere and it's raining" = "Cars always seem to break down at just the wrong moment..."
Here, the irony is clear — we should hardly be surprised, let alone 'inconvenienced' that hungry kids cry.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 19 minutes (2015-02-19 18:46:14 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
There is of course another, completely different way you might find 'have a way of crying' with a quite different meaning (which I'm pretty sure wouldn't apply here), e.g.:
"Some people have a way of crying that actually sounds as if they are laughing."
Note that in this meaning, it would be likely to be followed by 'that' (explicit or implied).
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 heures (2015-02-20 09:34:11 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
It seems to me that father is trying to explain why the children are 'poaching', and justify their action, which is equally condoned by the landowners, who are aware of the problem.
"but when a man spends his relief checks on green whiskey his children have a way of crying from hunger pains"
"it's hardly surprising that his children do cry from huinger pains when a man spends his relief checks on ... whiskey"
Perhaps 'irony' is too strong a word to use... but the expression 'have a way of ...-ing' does have that sort of connotation in the background, which I feel sure is why the writer would have chosen it here.
Note from asker:
| Thank you for your detailed explanation! I love it! Thanksss soo much! |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Piyush Ojha
: Why the low confidence? The explanation is spot on.
28 mins
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Thanks, Piyush! Well, just modesty — and the fact that in this sort of expression, there is no hard-and-fast 'right or wrong' answer.
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| agree |
claude-andrew
: Yes. Could have a stronger interpretation too: "have the annoying habit of crying", emphasizing the irony.
41 mins
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Yes, thanks Claude! Indeed, in some contexts that would be quite likely — but not really here, I feel.
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| agree |
B D Finch
: No need to be modest!
3 hrs
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Thanks, B! :-)
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| neutral |
Yvonne Gallagher
: I think your 2nd meaning and Claude-Andrew's suggestion definitely not the case here. //You realise this is not modern context? Obviously a lot af agreers have not read the book.
3 hrs
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Thanks, G! I think there is a very clear irony — after all, any normal person would have compassion for starving children. / I don't see what your reservation is? Irrespective of the period or the rest of the book, the expression per se is ironic.
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| agree |
magdadh
: Excellent explanation. And - 100% ironic. In the actual, rather than Alanis Morissette sense of the word. 'Understatement' comes to mind....
4 hrs
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Thanks, Magdadh!
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| agree |
Yorkshireman
: You have a way of answering succinctly :-)
5 hrs
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Thanks, Y/m! I try my best, it's sometimes hard to sum up all the complex subtleties of an expression.
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| agree |
acetran
10 hrs
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Thanks, Acetran!
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| agree |
British Diana
: Exactly, it's kind of convenient that they cry at the opportune moment
19 hrs
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Thanks, Diana!
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Discussion
Not having had the privilege to have read this work, I was simply referring to the general sense of the expression 'to have a way of -ing' in general senses, without any specific reference to the context here; I don't for one moment suggest that the writer was seeking to be deliberately ironic — that would clearly not fit here — all I was seeking to do was give the Asker a feel for the underlying expression, which does IMHO convey a certain inherent nuance or feeling of irony, at least in the kind of way it is normally used. Why did the writer choose to use this particular expression? S/he might simply have written: "... his children are likely to cry from hunger pains" etc. So why did the author choose to use the expression here?
I feel sure it is along the lines of "well, it's not to be wondered at, is it, if his children cry from hunger?"
THAT's what I meant by the intrinsic irony of the expression itself — in the light of your misinterpretation of my intentions, I can only conclude that my choice of term was wrong — mea culpa!
I have reservations about your answer (which would be correct in other contexts) because I don't believe it's right HERE. Your second point is wrong and your third one is really very close to my position.I know this book extremely well as I actually taught it over several years to exam classes and I honestly don't believe there is any (or very little) irony involved in the comment by Atticus. It is actually quite factual. As for the comments by some of your agreers WELL! Invoking Alanis Morisette as an expert on irony and the totally-wrong comment "Exactly, it's kind of convenient that they cry at the opportune moment" among others show there is little or no context being taken into account. There is absolutely nothing "opportune" about the crying of these children! Anyway, context doesn't seem to matter to Asker as proven by this http://www.proz.com/kudoz/English/poetry_literature/5782466-...
so I'll just get back to my own work and not waste any more of my time...