Wait a bit!-‘Ay, it’s me!’

[longxianchen]

Hi,
Here are some words from the novel Lady Chatterley's Lover(page 335, the last paragraph, chapter 15) by Lawrence (planetebook,here):
(background: Mellors put some flowers on Mellors' body, making a calendar of him. So he laughed and the flowers shook from his breast.)

‘Wait a bit!’ he said.
He rose, and opened the door of the hut. Flossie(a dog), lying in the porch, got up and looked at him.
‘Ay, it’s me!’ he said.
The rain had ceased.

Please notice the two sentences. I failed to work out the relationship between them. I understand them this way:
Mellors asked Connie to wait for him(or not to place flowers on his body for the moment), because he wanted to rise and open the door. And Ay, it’s me means Hey, I'm back(another possibility is that Mellors was saying to his dog Flossie: don't be nervous, it's me)
Is that right please?
Thank you in advance

 

[Barque]

Wait a bit - Wait for a short while. I'll be back.

Ay, it's me - Yes, it is me. He's speaking to the dog, probably saying "I may look different because of the flowers, but it's still me."

 

[longxianchen]

Sorry. Before you replied me, I had changed my OP.

probably saying "I may look different because of the flowers, but it's still me."

But when he rose, the flowers must have dropped from his body, so his dog couldn't see the flowers.

 

[Barque]

Then I think he was just talking casually to the dog. It was standing there looking at him, so he said "Yes, it's me. Who else?"

 

[longxianchen]

Thank you. It makes sense. And does Ay always mean yes?

 

[Barque]

As far as I know, aye.

 

[bennymix]

He's going out. He says, 'Wait a bit [for me to return]."
He goes toward the door and the dog notices him, but he's naked with flowers, so
he says to the dog, "Yes, it's me", joking. He proceeds out.

What is not clear?

 

[longxianchen]

He goes to the door and the dog notices him, but he's naked with flowers, so
he says to the dog, "Yes, it's me", joking. He proceeds out.

But as I said in post 3, the flowers must have dropped from his body, so his dog couldn't see the flowers.

As far as I know, aye.

But Lawrence always used Ay. And an English-Chinese dictionary says ay is used for surprise, regret or distress(however, English-Chinese dictionary is not always accurate)

 

[velisarius]

We can assume that the dog gave Mellors a funny look, perhaps wondering why he was going outside again by himself, naked, and with (some) flowers probably still stuck in his body-hair. Dogs can look surprised, just as humans can.

 

[Barque]

I meant to say that as far as I know, it always means "Yes". Perhaps someone more familiar with the dialects in which it's used will confirm.

But Lawrence always used Ay.

He always used it to mean - what?

 

[longxianchen]

Based on different context, it seems to me that ay sometimes it means yes, but mainly used as an interjection.

 

[velisarius]

It means "yes", and "nay" means "no". "Yes/ay" can be used on its own, but it still means "yes".

Edit: In this novel "Ay" means "Yes". It may have a different meaning when you find it elsewhere. See other definitions here.

 

[bennymix]

You might consider the possibility that you said was inaccurate.

But as I said in post 3, the flowers must have dropped from his body, so his dog couldn't see the flowers.

 

[bennymix]

It's possible your impression or inference is wrong, my friend. You're arguing with pretty literate, native speakers.
Also you might consider overlap; mightn't an interjection mean 'yes'?

Based on different context, it seems to me that ay sometimes it means yes, but mainly used as an interjection.

 

[Barque]

But Lawrence always used Ay.

I see where the confusion arose. I used a variant spelling "Aye", but I meant the same word that you were asking about, "Ay".

 

[natkretep]

This ay (or aye) is pronounced /aɪ/ (rhyming with high) and is still common in Northern England and Scotland. It means 'yes'. It is used generally when people are voting.

The other ay is pronounced /eɪ/ (rhyming with hey) and it's found in poetry to mean 'always' or 'ever'. I'm not familiar with ay to express surprise. Maybe your dictionary is dealing with eh (pronounced the same way).

 

[cando]

I think the Chinese dictionary may be referring to "Ah!", which is used as an interjection to express surprise, regret or distress.

 

[bennymix]

One cannot slice the salami too thin, here. Representing sounds like Aye, Ay, Ai, Aiee, Ah, and trying to tell their meanings in various contexts is beyond the powers or task of a dictionary. Particularly when cross cultural issues
are involved. The ways of indicating 'yes' [yah, yay, yeh, aye, etc.]and likely as varied as the ways of showing the cat's 'meow'.
I think most readers who've posted agree that the OP question about Aye in DHL's text means 'yes'.

I think the Chinese dictionary may be referring to "Ah!", which is used as an interjection to express surprise, regret or distress.

 

[longxianchen]

Great. I now believe ay means yes. Thank you again

 

[Juhasz]

It's interesting (though fairly understandable) that BrE speakers don't recognize ay as an exclamation of surprise. It's use in American English seems to be borrowed from Spanish (as in, "Ay dios mio!") or from Yiddish (as in "Ay yi yi," a variation of "Oy yoy yoy") - both of those languages having had a bigger impact on American English than on British English.

 

[Hermione Golightly]

Mellors says 'Wait a bit' to Connie, not the dog, before he gets out of bed. It means 'Wait for a moment'. He says 'Ay, It's me' to reassure Flossie his dog, who no doubt would be both amazed and worried to see her master going out without any clothes on.


I see the FreeDictionary says that 'Ay' before 'me' is an interjection, 'Ay me!'. This has nothing to do with 'Ay 'meaning 'Yes', which is extremely common in the parts of north- eastern English I'm familiar with, and in lowland Scots.
I've never heard anybody say either 'Ay me!', (or 'Woe is me'), and I'd say the Freedictionary and the Chinese one are misleading, except that we only have Long's translation into English of what the Chinese dictionary explains in Chinese. This only has certain validity when the person reading the translation and the translation of the definition knows exactly what the word means and can accurately translate that definition back again.

What's more, there's no reason whatsoever for Mellors to be experiencing distress, or regret, or surprise. There's no reason either why a British author in the late 1920's would have a working class man, who frequently speaks in (Nottinghamshire/northern) dialect, suddenly start using Spanish or Yiddish derived expressions.
Informed British English speakers have no doubt at all what 'Ay/Aye' means in this context.

ay
(ī)
interj.
Used before me to express distress or regret.

[Freedictionary]

 

[PaulQ]

I now believe ay means yes.

Ay, thaa's reet, it do an' all.