Chapter 17 of Torchy, Private Sec. is here in full — 303 sentences across 61 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of Torchy, Private Sec. is here in full — 303 sentences across 61 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MR. ROBERT GETS A SLANT It's all wrong, Percy, all wrong. Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card. What do I mean--we? Why, me and Mr. Robert.
Chapter 17 of Torchy, Private Sec. is here in full — 303 sentences across 61 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/60 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
past form of “cancel” — postpone indefinitely or annul something that was scheduled
From this reading “Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.”
(Roman mythology) god of love; counterpart of Greek Eros
From this reading “Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.”
street names for marijuana
From this reading “Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.”
make revisions in
From this reading “Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.”
an ardent male lover
From this reading “Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.”
a crosspiece between the legs of a chair
From this reading “Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.”
lie obliquely
From this reading “ROBERT GETS A SLANT It's all wrong, Percy, all wrong.”
possessive form of “somebody” — a human being
From this reading “Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading ROBERT GETS A SLANT It's all wrong, Percy, all wrong.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading ROBERT GETS A SLANT It's all wrong, Percy, all wrong.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
past form of “cancel” — postpone indefinitely or annul something that was scheduled
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
(Roman mythology) god of love; counterpart of Greek Eros
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading What do I mean--we?
street names for marijuana
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
give expression to
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
plural of “get” — a return on a shot that seemed impossible to reach and would normally have resulted in a point for the opponent
From this reading ROBERT GETS A SLANT It's all wrong, Percy, all wrong.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading What do I mean--we?
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ROBERT GETS A SLANT It's all wrong, Percy, all wrong.
engage in
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Why, me and Mr. Robert.
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading What do I mean--we?
a form of address for a man
From this reading MR.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
used when we are both doing the action and receiving it
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
United States writer whose novels explored human alienation (1916-1990)
From this reading ROBERT GETS A SLANT It's all wrong, Percy, all wrong.
make revisions in
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
United States parliamentary authority and author (in 1876) of Robert's Rules of Order (1837-1923)
From this reading ROBERT GETS A SLANT It's all wrong, Percy, all wrong.
an ardent male lover
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
a crosspiece between the legs of a chair
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
lie obliquely
From this reading ROBERT GETS A SLANT It's all wrong, Percy, all wrong.
possessive form of “somebody” — a human being
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading Somebody's been and rung in a revise on this Romeo dope, and here we find ourselves tryin' to make the Cupid Express on a canceled time-card.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What do I mean--we?
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Why, me and Mr. Robert.
not correct; not in conformity with fact or truth
From this reading ROBERT GETS A SLANT It's all wrong, Percy, all wrong.
Chapter 17 of Torchy, Private Sec. by Sewell Ford holds 303 sentences, grouped into 61 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 17 holds 303 sentences of Torchy, Private Sec., unabridged, divided into 61 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of Torchy, Private Sec. by Sewell Ford exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 303 sentences, grouped into 61 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 61 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 61 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 17 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading Torchy, Private Sec. by Sewell Ford on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6116 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #20627 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #20627, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 509 minutes of reading across 1224 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Torchy, Private Sec. section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of Torchy, Private Sec. to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Torchy, Private Sec., each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
