How would you interpret this phrase?
How would you interpret this phrase “Cleans out your liver” in the last but one passage?

Thank you.
The excerpt is taken from the short story ‘The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber’ written by Ernest Hemingway.The excerpt:
“That’s where the first bull went in. The gun-bearer said when he fell off the bull was down. He was watching us helling along and the other two buff galloping. When he looked up there was the bull up and looking at him. Gun-bearer ran like hell and the bull went off slowly into that bush.”

“Can we go in after him now?” asked Macomber eagerly.

Wilson looked at him appraisingly. Damned if this isn’t a strange one, he thought. Yesterday he’s scared sick and today he’s a ruddy fire eater.

“No, we’ll give him a while.”
…
“Chances are he’s dead in there,” Wilson remarked. “After a little we’ll have a look.”

Macomber felt a wild unreasonable happiness that he had never known before.

…
“You know I don’t think I’d ever be afraid of anything again,” Macomber said to Wilson. “Something happened in me after we first saw the buff and started after him. Like a dam bursting. It was pure excitement.”

“Cleans out your liver,” said Wilson. “Damn funny things happen to people.”

Macomber’s face was shining. “You know something did happen to me,” he said. “I feel absolutely different.”

Question

How would you interpret this phrase?
How would you interpret this phrase “Cleans out your liver” in the last but one passage?

Thank you.
The excerpt is taken from the short story ‘The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber’ written by Ernest Hemingway.The excerpt:
“That’s where the first bull went in. The gun-bearer said when he fell off the bull was down. He was watching us helling along and the other two buff galloping. When he looked up there was the bull up and looking at him. Gun-bearer ran like hell and the bull went off slowly into that bush.”

“Can we go in after him now?” asked Macomber eagerly.

Wilson looked at him appraisingly. Damned if this isn’t a strange one, he thought. Yesterday he’s scared sick and today he’s a ruddy fire eater.

“No, we’ll give him a while.”
…
“Chances are he’s dead in there,” Wilson remarked. “After a little we’ll have a look.”

Macomber felt a wild unreasonable happiness that he had never known before.

…
“You know I don’t think I’d ever be afraid of anything again,” Macomber said to Wilson. “Something happened in me after we first saw the buff and started after him. Like a dam bursting. It was pure excitement.”

“Cleans out your liver,” said Wilson. “Damn funny things happen to people.”

Macomber’s face was shining. “You know something did happen to me,” he said. “I feel absolutely different.”

Answer

Wilson means that Macomber will feel much better now. The shock that he has experienced will have a refreshing effect on his body, almost like washing away all the toxins from his liver.

Hope this helps

Answer

It's like a joke phrase. It means he was shocked so much by what happened to him that he had a physical reaction in his body. Like if a little girl sees an adorable puppy people will say "her heart melted". Of course, her heart didn't actually melt it just means she had an intense feeling of love for the puppy and in English the heart is associated with love. A long time ago all the organs of the body were associated with certain emotions (these were superstitions of course). I believe the liver was associated with anger. So if you said something "really cleaned out my liver" a hundred and fifty years ago in England you would be saying that something happened which shocked me out of my anger.

Answer

In the literal sense, the liver is an organ that cleans impurities in our system. In the past, the liver was thought to be the origin place of our emotions — our feelings. People speak of being filled with bile when they are angry. Bile is a product of the liver.

Macomber was faced with a great danger that deeply affected his emotional state. Wilson acknowledges that great danger can have that effect when he says it “cleans out your liver”. I think it means to reset your emotional baseline, clear out your past fears, and make you see things in a new light.

I hope this helps — the language is dated and difficult to explain.

Answers · 3

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