On the beach

Posted by R. Berg on August 05, 2007

In Reply to: On the beach posted by Kahrobaie on August 05, 2007

: Could "to be on the beach" mean jobless or being in land instead of sea in the following phrase? It's a phrase in "1919" by John Dos Passos (Joe is a deserter - he has deserted US navy becasue he doesn't want to fight in Europe) He's in B.A. and just found a job in a freight ship:

: "Go get your dunnage (luggage) and be back here in an hour," said M. "Haven't got any dunnage. I've been on the beach." replied Joe.

Eric Partridge, A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English has two entries that might apply.

[1] "beach, be" or "go on the." To be or become a beach-comber: coll.: late C. 19-20.

[2] "beach, on the." Ashore, whether on leave or having retired from the sea: nautical: mid-C. 19-20....

The second one fits the context pretty well. ~rb