bustarole

English translation: rowdy brawl/scuffle/fracas

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:bustarole
Selected answer:rowdy brawl/scuffle/fracas
Entered by: Yvonne Gallagher

13:10 Oct 22, 2020
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / A historical detective novel set in New York in 1702
English term or phrase: bustarole
Here "bustarole" must mean something like "a fight", I suppose. However, I have not found this word anywhere, except for in another Maccammon's novel, with a slightly different meaning.

"Yep, Matthew thought as his heartbeat quickened and his guts went squirmy. Sure as rain. The crazed maniac had brought them here to get into a fight. It wasn't enough that Matthew had been doing very well in his arduous lessons on swordplay, map-making, preparing and firing a flintlock pistol, horsemanship and other such necessities of the trade. No, he wasn't progressing fast enough in that "fist combat" nonsense that Greathouse imposed upon him. Remember , Greathouse had said many times, you fight with your mind before you use your muscles.
It seemed that Matthew was about to get a demonstration of the great one's mind. And Heaven help us, he thought.
Greathouse stood up. He was still smiling, though the smile had thinned.
Matthew again counted the heads. The fiddler had stopped his fiddling. Was he a fighter, or a fixture? George and his unconscious companion were still face-down, but they might come to life at the first smack. Who could say what Dippen Nack would do? The blowsy lady was grinning; her front teeth had already been knocked out. Baiter would probably wait for Bonehead to bash a skull before he started nose-chewing. Skelly's axe was always near at hand. Of the five others, two looked like rough-edged wharfmen who craved a good ***bustarole***. The remaining three, at a back table, were dressed in nice suits that they might not want to disfigure and were puffing on churchwarden pipes, though certainly they were no reverends. A throw of the dice, Matthew thought, but he really hoped Greathouse was not such a careless gamesman."
Alexander Alexandrov
Russian Federation
Local time: 11:18
rowdy brawl/scuffle/fracas
Explanation:
"donnybrook might work as was used at that time

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/donnybr...

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Note added at 10 mins (2020-10-22 13:21:21 GMT)
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basically people just wanting to get involved in a fisticuffs, general confrontation or skirmish

word see3ms to have been coined by author but includes "bust" as in "bust your face/mug!" so meaning is clear

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Note added at 10 mins (2020-10-22 13:21:37 GMT)
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typo: seems
Selected response from:

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 08:18
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +6rowdy brawl/scuffle/fracas
Yvonne Gallagher
4 +1Tussle
Lara Barnett


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
rowdy brawl/scuffle/fracas


Explanation:
"donnybrook might work as was used at that time

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/donnybr...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 10 mins (2020-10-22 13:21:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

basically people just wanting to get involved in a fisticuffs, general confrontation or skirmish

word see3ms to have been coined by author but includes "bust" as in "bust your face/mug!" so meaning is clear

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 10 mins (2020-10-22 13:21:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

typo: seems

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 08:18
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 317
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  philgoddard: It would be interesting to know where the word came from, but I agree it's probably made up. Either way, given the context, I think this is almost certainly the meaning.
1 hr
  -> Thank you! I get the feeling that it isn't a 1 to 1 fight being looked for here but a free-for-all fisticuffs

agree  Tina Vonhof (X)
9 hrs
  -> Many thanks:-)

agree  Jennifer Caisley: Well worked out! This would have left me somewhat foxed, for sure!
19 hrs
  -> Many thanks:-)

agree  Sajad Neisi
1 day 4 hrs
  -> Many thanks:-)

agree  Cilian O'Tuama
2 days 12 hrs
  -> Thanks:-)

agree  Polangmar
6 days
  -> Thank you:-)
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Tussle


Explanation:
"TUSSLE
verb:
1. to struggle or fight roughly or vigorously; wrestle; scuffle.
noun:
2. a rough physical contest or struggle; scuffle.
3. any vigorous or determined struggle, conflict, etc.:
I had quite a tussle with that chemistry exam."
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/tussle

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Note added at 1 hr (2020-10-22 14:40:47 GMT)
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I would use this word. There are many synonyms that could potentially be interchangeable, but in terms of getting the conversational flow of a detective novel, it has quite a native English flow."

"TUSSLE
1: a physical contest or struggle
2: an intense argument, controversy, or struggle"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tussle

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Note added at 1 hr (2020-10-22 14:42:30 GMT)
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In terms of maintaining the historical element. It does seem that "tussle" was actually in use for quite a while before your novel's 1702 date:

"First Known Use of tussle
Noun
1629, ...
Verb
1638,, ..."
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tussle

Example sentence(s):
  • "He wanted a fight. He craved a good TUSSLE"

    https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4129228/1/Summer-Session
Lara Barnett
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:18
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  philgoddard: This is just a synonym of Yvonne's answer. Since this is an English-English question, it doesn't add anything.//No, we don't need any more suggestions. Alexander is presumably translating into Russian, and wants to know what this word means.
24 mins
  -> Quite possibly, but this is the solution I found in researching a term that could also be relevant to the period and context required.// And how do you know that? I think its pretty clear from his context that he is translating from Italian to English!

neutral  Yvonne Gallagher: I already gave 7 words, all meaning "fight"! You may notice that "scuffle" (dating from 1590) is a synonym of "tussle"//I said zilch about "prohibiting" others from making suggestions. I merely responded to your comments to Phil, now deleted
10 hrs
  -> And you may notice that the asker has asked for a word "like" fight. How does giving 7 words prohibit anybody else from making a suggestion./ps. the asker's question - he is the one asking for a similar term to FIGHT! . / So what is your problem then?

agree  Cilian O'Tuama: Nothing wrong with posting alternatives, is done all the time here. Won't end up in a punch-up.
2 days 11 hrs
  -> Thank you.
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