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09:06 Oct 10, 2009
English to English translations [Non-PRO] Art/Literary - Other
English term or phrase:clutch
This has born out of a trivial discussion among some colleagues and dictionary references are no help.
If somebody is called “Clutch” on account of a physical disability, what disability would you expect that person to have?
Giuseppe "Peter the Clutch Hand" Morello becomes the crime family's top advisor and a close aide to Masseria, thus strengthening the theory that Morello was ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morello_crime_family
I can’t give a concrete context but... American South, Deep South… and possibly post WW-II era. (Very honestly it was one of those old movies & I don’t recall the name). Clutch is a murder suspect but he is soon dropped from the suspect list as cops find out that he is called after a certain disability or ineptness. He simply couldn’t have done it because he is ‘clutch’.
Explanation: Not sure if this isn't a forum topic, rather than a question, but anyway...
Clutch could refer to a car's clutch -- or lack of it -- as adapted for someone who has difficulty using their feet. Going further that line of reasoning, "clutch" alliterates with "crutch," again suggesting motor disabilities. Well, why not...
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2009-10-10 10:30:48 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Ok, Foghorn... My convoluted line of reasoning goes something like, "clutch" could refer to an inability to operate a manual gearbox in a car (yeah, I know, they have driven mostly automatics in the USA since the Fifties...) So, if the crime was committed by someone driving a manual ("shift-stick" in US parlance) car, and if Clutch cannot operate a manual car (s/he is only able to drive automatics), then that clears Clutch from the crime. Could make sense...
Peter Skipp Local time: 17:40 Native speaker of: Bulgarian, English PRO pts in category: 8
The translation workplace 
