"I'm not a good lander" he said, "I might spill myself".
Any ideas what this might mean? The book was written in 1968 so perhaps so older usage.
"I'm not a good lander" he said, "I might spill myself".
Any ideas what this might mean? The book was written in 1968 so perhaps so older usage.
How about looking into a dictionary?
"She took a nasty spill"
Yeah, I know that one, but this is being used reflexively. I might say "I spilled myself out of bed", but in this context it seems that "spilling himself" is a potential consquence of being a bad lander.
To be fair, most baby owls haven't learnt any English at all. I think he's doing a great job!
"I spilled myself out of bed" is reflexive
"spilling himself" also reflexive.
if you spill yourself out of bed as a consequence of being clumsy, that's also a consequence of something.
so not sure why you are happy to accept one but reject the other.
1. To grow or spread in a disorderly or planless fashion:
sprawl, straggle.
2. To come to the ground suddenly and involuntarily:
drop, fall, go down, nose-dive, pitch, plunge, topple, tumble.
Idiom: take a fall.
3. Informal. To disclose in a breach of confidence:
betray, blab, divulge, expose, give away, let out, reveal, tell, uncover, unveil.
Archaic: discover.
Idioms: let slip, let the cat out of the bag, spill the beans, tell all.
noun
A sudden involuntary drop to the ground:
dive, fall, nosedive, pitch, plunge, tumble.
Informal: header.
I'm going with spill from the shorter OED.
4. v.t. spoil, damage, make imperfect or useless, destroy the goodness or value of. Long Sc. & dial. ME.