Literary notes about fishmonger (AI summary)
The term "fishmonger" appears in literature in multifaceted ways, serving both literal and figurative roles. In some contexts, such as in [1] and [2], it retains its conventional meaning as a purveyor of fish, contributing to vivid depictions of everyday urban life or as a marker of local authenticity. Meanwhile, authors like John Arbuthnot in [3] and Gogol in [4] employ the word in more metaphorical or symbolic manners, using it to enrich characterizations or to imply unexpected qualities in a figure. Additionally, as seen in [5] and [6], the term can adopt a playful or enigmatic tone—whether as part of a proverbial expression or as a memorable descriptor of a character—thereby highlighting the word’s versatile use across different literary styles and genres.
- A brisk traffic was going by, fruit carts, a hansom, a four-wheeler with a pile of boxes, a fishmonger's cart.
— from The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance by H. G. Wells - “Only to be had from the fishmonger's.”
— from The Garden Party, and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield - Frog demanded two things—to be his porter and his fishmonger, to keep the keys of his gates and furnish the kitchen.
— from The History of John Bull by John Arbuthnot - He is the magician who needs but to wink when passing a fishmonger’s or a wine merchant’s.
— from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol - To turn fishmonger on Easter-eve.
— from A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs - And once a fishmonger, a grey-haired old man, stood in my way and looked at me morosely and said: "It isn't you
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
