n'all

[lekal]

Dear teachers:
She did her best, and that says a lot about her, but still, she simply wasn’t ready for the responsibility, and I wasn’t ready to deal with anything, being just born n’all.(From he book Friends, lovers and the big terrible thing, author Matthew Perry)
What's the meaning of the words in boldface?
Thank you very much.

 

[se16teddy]

It is this use of “and all”:
18 and all, together with every other associated or connected attribute, object, or circumstance: “What with the snow and all, we may be a little late.”
From the Random House definition here: all - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

 

[grassy]

Was the narrator a baby then? If so, n'all (standing for and all, as Teddy notes) makes the irony of the statement stronger: the narrator was just a helpless baby and couldn't help his mother deal with anything.

 

[se16teddy]

Some people habitually use “and all” as a marker of tentativeness and unassertiveness. It makes them sound a bit illiterate, I suppose.

 

[RM1(SS)]

What's the meaning of the words in boldface?

As you have written it, it's a word, not words. The answers correctly interpret it as two words: "n' all".

 

[kentix]

Matthew Perry is a comic actor.

- being just born n’all

"being just born" sounds factual and serious.

Adding n'all adds a touch of humor. It's conversational. It emphasizes how little control he had over anything to do with the situation.