Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[wangfeel]

sentence is :
Mr. Hickok plumb gutted McCall at draw.

What does this mean?

original snippet:
It was about sunup, over at that Bella Union joint. Mr. Hickok plumb gutted McCall at draw. �N now here Mr. Hickok was, at poker again, say a couple hours of daylight left, �n in come that coward McCall. Walked up on him, �n shot him in the head.
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"Watch flower flowering and searing
Stay or leave has no sense
Clouds curling and stretching
Like or dislike is no surprising " from old Chinese saying

[CP]

Well, you have chosen a passage written in the vernacular of the Old West, where "plumb" was the popular way to say "very" or "just" or "really": I was plumb tuckered out (very tired); that's just plumb loco (completely crazy). (Plumb means exactly vertical, so it is natural to use it to mean straight or exact. Just means fair, after all; and very means truly.)

"Gutted" means to disembowel (slit open and pull out all the entrails, or guts), either literally or figuratively. You can gut (disembowel) a fish; you can gut (tear out all the insides) a house; you can gut (remove all the incentives or bonuses) a contract; you can gut (wipe out) someone at a game or a contest -- like draw poker, the meaning of "draw" in your snippet. So Mr. Hickok beat McCall at draw poker, probably taking all his money.

The whole passage means, at sunrise, Mr. Hickok (would that be Wild Bill Kickok?) beat McCall soundly at a game of draw poker. Then later that afternoon, McCall came in and shot him (Hickok, I guess) in the head, like the coward that he is.

It was about sunup, over at that Bella Union joint. Mr. Hickok plumb gutted McCall at draw. �N now here Mr. Hickok was, at poker again, say a couple hours of daylight left, �n in come that coward McCall. Walked up on him, �n shot him in the head.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Lorikeet]

[CP]

Well, I have Googled this dialog and found that it comes from the script for an episode of "Deadwood," an HBO program. And yes, it is about the death of Wild Bill Hickok, a real person in the Old West.

Edit, after seeing Lorikeet's post: The Wikipedia story says this:

"Legend has it that Hickok, playing poker when he was shot, was holding a pair of aces and a pair of eights, with the fifth card disputed. The fifth card was either unknown, or some say that it had not yet been dealt. This famous hand of cards is known as the 'Dead Man's Hand'. The game was interrupted by Hickok getting shot."

I knew that aces and eights was the dead man's hand, but I never knew why.

The article also says that Hickok was sitting with his back to the door, since his usual seat in the corner was already taken. Gunfighters, of course, always sit facing the door -- or they should -- so that no enemies can sneak up on them and shoot them from behind.

The story also says that the great Keith Carradine plays Hickok in the "Deadwood" series.

Thanks for a great question, Wangfeel!
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[wangfeel]

Thank to you.

In the deadwood show, David Milch (the producer) thinks that aces and eights story is a made story, is not true. He thinks that no one around the table would go check his cards in hand after the gunfire.
_________________
"Watch flower flowering and searing
Stay or leave has no sense
Clouds curling and stretching
Like or dislike is no surprising " from old Chinese saying

[CP]

I think they would check his hand, if only to help settle what to do with the money on the table (the pot).

If Hickok had a winning hand, he should get the pot, and the money goes to his heirs. If not, the winner takes the pot and whatever Hickok had bet is lost to the heirs.

If he was holding aces and eights, he had a pretty good hand, but then the question is what cards were the remaining players holding?
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb