HW: Need Definitions

[Peter Sondergeld]

>A. What the hell is a "battery hen"? They're not too adept at
>flying, I presume? Perhaps a mechanical wind-up toy?

They are hens kept in cages for "farming" eggs. The cages, as I understand
it, have sloping floors so the eggs roll forward into troughs for easy
collection. As a commercial enterprise they are probably very efficient,
though they do come in for some flak here in Oz for being somewhat inhumane.
Often there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of hens kept on the premises
under these conditions.

>B. Looked up "identimate" in the big fat Webster's
>dictionary...no luck. What do people guess (or know)?

No idea, sorry.

>C. "Suss" - After hearing this in several HW songs (but never
>anywhere else), I've gathered it means to "understand",
>"comprehend", or maybe to "deal with", etc... Common British
>slang term?

Yep, in Oz, too. You can e.g. "suss" the situation (get the lay of the land,
so to speak), or have someone "sussed" (know what they're up to). We
sometimes use it to mean "suspect" or "suspicious" i.e. something seems
dodgy or too good to be true ("Healthy and happy battery hens? That sounds a
bit suss.")

>
>Chuck
>
>

Have a good one,
Pete.
(Looking forward to a week off)

ObCD: The Tea Party *The Edges of Twilight*


**************************
Peter Sondergeld
p.sondergeld at qut.edu.au