P27

 

Explanations of Difficult Words and Phrases

Here are explanations for the difficult words and phrases from the provided text.

• Brokering the deals: This phrase means to arrange or negotiate business agreements. A broker acts as an intermediary or a go-between, connecting buyers and sellers and facilitating a transaction. In this context, he was the person responsible for making the business deals happen for his company.

• Mastered the business: This means he became highly skilled and proficient at his job. To "master" something is to acquire a complete understanding and expertise in it. By 1940, he was a master of the scrap metal business, meaning he knew every aspect of it, from brokering deals to managing the staff.

• Kept closed off: This phrase describes a person's emotional state, indicating they're emotionally distant or guarded. When a part of you is "closed off," you don't share your true feelings, thoughts, or vulnerabilities with others. The waitress felt that a part of him was inaccessible to her, suggesting he was holding back emotionally.

• Pop out of thin air: This is an idiomatic expression that means to appear suddenly and unexpectedly. The waitress used this phrase to describe his apparent belief that the woman he was really waiting for—Allie—would just suddenly materialize to take him away from his current life and relationship.

• The Outer Banks near Ocracoke: The Outer Banks are a 200-mile long string of narrow barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia. Ocracoke is a village located on Ocracoke Island, one of the southernmost islands in the chain. Together, they are a specific geographical location where he and his father went camping.