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tumbled

nekocat

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http://www.mobilebooks.org/?etext=PG019805

Great was old Mr. Bouncer's relief and Flopsy's joy when Peter and Benjamin arrived in triumph with the young family. The rabbit-babies were rather tumbled and very hungry; they were fed and put to bed. They soon recovered.
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This is from Beatrix Potter's book.What does "tumbled" mean?
 
You could say..............................

they were "shaken up".

Uncle Frank

☝
 
Thanks for the quick reply!
It's almost the same as "upset," right?
 
Tumbled in that context appears to be a combination of confused, a little upset and exhausted. It's not a common phrase you'd hear today. Sometimes a finished state is used not to communiate what actually happened but to communicate how one feels if one had actually done that thing.

So if you imagine how you'd feel after 'tumbling' for a while, you'd probably be a little confused, disoriented, maybe a little upset, definitely dizzy, and if you did it for a long time perhaps you'd be hungry too. It's kind of wide open actually.

It's like saying "I was shaken" or "I was deflated". Although they're more common they do not necessarily refer to having had the action happen, but more so to the feeling or visual/emotional association.
 
Thanks! I got a precious info here: that "tumbled" here doesn't necessarily mean "literally, physically tumbled".
 
As a side note--since you have shown, nekocat san, that you are good at doing your research--it might be good to Google in your verbs as non-bare infinitives; 'to tumble' might have worked. (If you had added 'meaning' to that, I do think you could have found a definition which best fit the context.)

Keep up the good work !! MM
 
I think "tumbled" must be a British expression - I haven't heard this in American books or speech.
 
That's a good piece of info, Sarapva! Danke schoen, Frau Sarapva!
 
Sarapva said:
I think "tumbled" must be a British expression - I haven't heard this in American books or speech.
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well it is an older children's book so its speech may not be mainstream
 
I think tumbled can also be a very archaic term for "knocked up" (that is, illegitimately impregnated).
 
nekocat said:
That's a good piece of info, Sarapva! Danke schoen, Frau Sarapva!
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You're welcome, nekocat! Do you also speak German??! I don't, but I can understand that phrase!
 
Ja, Ich kan ein bisschen Deutsch sprechen, frau Sarapva.
 
Even though I think it's great you can some German (I can understand it), English and Japanese. It doesn't mean you can post German on this forum (beside the German section), without translations. So please take care everyone can understand you.

P.s thank you for reporting this post.
 
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Peter Rabbit was published over 80 years ago, and Ms. Potter was British. Find someone who fits that age bracket from England and confirm the meaning. It certainly isn't American English, nor modern English by a long shot.
 
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