Meaning of “fast inside” (in context)

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I am curious what is the exact meaning of the phrase "fast inside", as used in this sentence by D. H. Lawrence:



White savages, with motor-cars, telephones, incomes and ideals! Savages fast inside the machine; yet savage enough, ye gods!



Is "fast" actually an imperative verb?






meaning meaning-in-context imperative







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  • The verb would be fasten. As in fasten your seat belts, savages.
    – RegDwigнt♦
    1 hour ago
















up vote
1
down vote

favorite












I am curious what is the exact meaning of the phrase "fast inside", as used in this sentence by D. H. Lawrence:



White savages, with motor-cars, telephones, incomes and ideals! Savages fast inside the machine; yet savage enough, ye gods!



Is "fast" actually an imperative verb?






meaning meaning-in-context imperative







share|improve this question





















  • The verb would be fasten. As in fasten your seat belts, savages.
    – RegDwigнt♦
    1 hour ago












up vote
1
down vote

favorite









up vote
1
down vote

favorite











I am curious what is the exact meaning of the phrase "fast inside", as used in this sentence by D. H. Lawrence:



White savages, with motor-cars, telephones, incomes and ideals! Savages fast inside the machine; yet savage enough, ye gods!



Is "fast" actually an imperative verb?






meaning meaning-in-context imperative







share|improve this question













I am curious what is the exact meaning of the phrase "fast inside", as used in this sentence by D. H. Lawrence:



White savages, with motor-cars, telephones, incomes and ideals! Savages fast inside the machine; yet savage enough, ye gods!



Is "fast" actually an imperative verb?






meaning meaning-in-context imperative




meaning meaning-in-context imperative






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked 2 hours ago









A. M.

261




261











  • The verb would be fasten. As in fasten your seat belts, savages.
    – RegDwigнt♦
    1 hour ago
















  • The verb would be fasten. As in fasten your seat belts, savages.
    – RegDwigнt♦
    1 hour ago















The verb would be fasten. As in fasten your seat belts, savages.
– RegDwigнt♦
1 hour ago




The verb would be fasten. As in fasten your seat belts, savages.
– RegDwigнt♦
1 hour ago










1 Answer
1






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4
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In this sentence, fast is not a verb, it's an adverb, qualifying “inside the machine”. There is no verb in the main clause, just like there is no verb in the previous sentence. You can add “they are” at the beginning of each sentence if you want to make a full grammatical sentence.



It means “firmly attached” or more generally “difficult to remove”. The Cambridge English Dictionary (meaning C2) gives the definition “firmly fixed”. Merriam-Webster (adverb meaning 1) gives the definition “in a firm or fixed manner”. The adverb fast in this sense has the same etymology as the verb fasten. “Fastened” implies that there is a specific object (e.g. a rope, belt or bolt) whose purpose is to prevent movement. On the other hand, “fast” tends to mean that what prevents removal is some different physical process, or it can have a figurative meaning. An example of the concrete meaning (from CED) is:




The glue had set and my hand was stuck fast.




A common figurative meaning is the expression “fast asleep” (MW lists it as a separate meaning), which is a synonym of “sound asleep”: in a deep sleep, not easy woken up.



In Lawrence's sentence, the savages are “fast inside the machine”, meaning that they are in a world of machines and you can't take them apart from their machines. The use of the singular and the definite article for “the machine” (as opposed to “inside machines”) conveys the imagery that the world that the white savages inhabit is a sort of giant machine. It's not that they are in a car and you can't get them out of it, but that they live in a machine world.






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  • They still say "it's fast" in Yorkshire when other English speakers would say "it's stuck".
    – Michael Harvey
    46 mins ago










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1 Answer
1






active

oldest

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1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes








up vote
4
down vote













In this sentence, fast is not a verb, it's an adverb, qualifying “inside the machine”. There is no verb in the main clause, just like there is no verb in the previous sentence. You can add “they are” at the beginning of each sentence if you want to make a full grammatical sentence.



It means “firmly attached” or more generally “difficult to remove”. The Cambridge English Dictionary (meaning C2) gives the definition “firmly fixed”. Merriam-Webster (adverb meaning 1) gives the definition “in a firm or fixed manner”. The adverb fast in this sense has the same etymology as the verb fasten. “Fastened” implies that there is a specific object (e.g. a rope, belt or bolt) whose purpose is to prevent movement. On the other hand, “fast” tends to mean that what prevents removal is some different physical process, or it can have a figurative meaning. An example of the concrete meaning (from CED) is:




The glue had set and my hand was stuck fast.




A common figurative meaning is the expression “fast asleep” (MW lists it as a separate meaning), which is a synonym of “sound asleep”: in a deep sleep, not easy woken up.



In Lawrence's sentence, the savages are “fast inside the machine”, meaning that they are in a world of machines and you can't take them apart from their machines. The use of the singular and the definite article for “the machine” (as opposed to “inside machines”) conveys the imagery that the world that the white savages inhabit is a sort of giant machine. It's not that they are in a car and you can't get them out of it, but that they live in a machine world.






share|improve this answer






















  • They still say "it's fast" in Yorkshire when other English speakers would say "it's stuck".
    – Michael Harvey
    46 mins ago














up vote
4
down vote













In this sentence, fast is not a verb, it's an adverb, qualifying “inside the machine”. There is no verb in the main clause, just like there is no verb in the previous sentence. You can add “they are” at the beginning of each sentence if you want to make a full grammatical sentence.



It means “firmly attached” or more generally “difficult to remove”. The Cambridge English Dictionary (meaning C2) gives the definition “firmly fixed”. Merriam-Webster (adverb meaning 1) gives the definition “in a firm or fixed manner”. The adverb fast in this sense has the same etymology as the verb fasten. “Fastened” implies that there is a specific object (e.g. a rope, belt or bolt) whose purpose is to prevent movement. On the other hand, “fast” tends to mean that what prevents removal is some different physical process, or it can have a figurative meaning. An example of the concrete meaning (from CED) is:




The glue had set and my hand was stuck fast.




A common figurative meaning is the expression “fast asleep” (MW lists it as a separate meaning), which is a synonym of “sound asleep”: in a deep sleep, not easy woken up.



In Lawrence's sentence, the savages are “fast inside the machine”, meaning that they are in a world of machines and you can't take them apart from their machines. The use of the singular and the definite article for “the machine” (as opposed to “inside machines”) conveys the imagery that the world that the white savages inhabit is a sort of giant machine. It's not that they are in a car and you can't get them out of it, but that they live in a machine world.






share|improve this answer






















  • They still say "it's fast" in Yorkshire when other English speakers would say "it's stuck".
    – Michael Harvey
    46 mins ago












up vote
4
down vote










up vote
4
down vote









In this sentence, fast is not a verb, it's an adverb, qualifying “inside the machine”. There is no verb in the main clause, just like there is no verb in the previous sentence. You can add “they are” at the beginning of each sentence if you want to make a full grammatical sentence.



It means “firmly attached” or more generally “difficult to remove”. The Cambridge English Dictionary (meaning C2) gives the definition “firmly fixed”. Merriam-Webster (adverb meaning 1) gives the definition “in a firm or fixed manner”. The adverb fast in this sense has the same etymology as the verb fasten. “Fastened” implies that there is a specific object (e.g. a rope, belt or bolt) whose purpose is to prevent movement. On the other hand, “fast” tends to mean that what prevents removal is some different physical process, or it can have a figurative meaning. An example of the concrete meaning (from CED) is:




The glue had set and my hand was stuck fast.




A common figurative meaning is the expression “fast asleep” (MW lists it as a separate meaning), which is a synonym of “sound asleep”: in a deep sleep, not easy woken up.



In Lawrence's sentence, the savages are “fast inside the machine”, meaning that they are in a world of machines and you can't take them apart from their machines. The use of the singular and the definite article for “the machine” (as opposed to “inside machines”) conveys the imagery that the world that the white savages inhabit is a sort of giant machine. It's not that they are in a car and you can't get them out of it, but that they live in a machine world.






share|improve this answer














In this sentence, fast is not a verb, it's an adverb, qualifying “inside the machine”. There is no verb in the main clause, just like there is no verb in the previous sentence. You can add “they are” at the beginning of each sentence if you want to make a full grammatical sentence.



It means “firmly attached” or more generally “difficult to remove”. The Cambridge English Dictionary (meaning C2) gives the definition “firmly fixed”. Merriam-Webster (adverb meaning 1) gives the definition “in a firm or fixed manner”. The adverb fast in this sense has the same etymology as the verb fasten. “Fastened” implies that there is a specific object (e.g. a rope, belt or bolt) whose purpose is to prevent movement. On the other hand, “fast” tends to mean that what prevents removal is some different physical process, or it can have a figurative meaning. An example of the concrete meaning (from CED) is:




The glue had set and my hand was stuck fast.




A common figurative meaning is the expression “fast asleep” (MW lists it as a separate meaning), which is a synonym of “sound asleep”: in a deep sleep, not easy woken up.



In Lawrence's sentence, the savages are “fast inside the machine”, meaning that they are in a world of machines and you can't take them apart from their machines. The use of the singular and the definite article for “the machine” (as opposed to “inside machines”) conveys the imagery that the world that the white savages inhabit is a sort of giant machine. It's not that they are in a car and you can't get them out of it, but that they live in a machine world.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 34 mins ago

























answered 1 hour ago









Gilles

3,74862649




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  • They still say "it's fast" in Yorkshire when other English speakers would say "it's stuck".
    – Michael Harvey
    46 mins ago
















  • They still say "it's fast" in Yorkshire when other English speakers would say "it's stuck".
    – Michael Harvey
    46 mins ago















They still say "it's fast" in Yorkshire when other English speakers would say "it's stuck".
– Michael Harvey
46 mins ago




They still say "it's fast" in Yorkshire when other English speakers would say "it's stuck".
– Michael Harvey
46 mins ago

















 

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