What do "orange" and "spindle-shanked beaux" mean in this quote?
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Music by Eric Matyas
https://www.soundimage.org
Track title: Puzzle Meditation
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Chapters
00:00 What Do &Quot;Orange&Quot; And &Quot;Spindle-Shanked Beaux&Quot; Mean In This Quote?
00:32 Accepted Answer Score 25
01:35 Answer 2 Score 24
02:05 Thank you
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Full question
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Tags
#meaning #britishenglish #slang #archaicisms
#avk47
ACCEPTED ANSWER
Score 25
The number of unfamiliar, archaic words collocated here makes it a challenge even to a native speaker.
In order of appearance (all definitions taken from ODO except where otherwise indicated):
Spindle-shanked means ‘having long, thin legs’. It’s rather a contemptuous term to use, whereby a person’s shanks (legs) are compared in shape to a spindle.
Beaux is the plural of beau, meaning ‘a rich, fashionable young man; a dandy’.
Close is a verb here, meaning ‘to come close together in contact or union; to join, unite, combine, coalesce, meet in a common centre’ (OED), in this case referring to close romantic/sexual contact.
Orange wench is an old-fashioned term for a young girl who sells oranges (and other fruits, presumably) in the streets.
In other words, the whole thing means, roughly translated into 21st-century English:
Our current race with its lanky, dolled up pretty-boys [who] would rather fiddle around with the greengrocer’s girl behind the local drive-in than get in on a backalley fight [for money] at a boxing match.
(See StoneyB’s answer for more details on the context of boxing matches)
ANSWER 2
Score 24
The context of this quotation is fisticuffs, and "Tottenham Court" refers to the school where James Figg taught boxing, fencing and quarterstaff.
An 'orange wench' was a woman who sold oranges and other refreshments at a playhouse, and to 'close' with her means to engage her in conversation, probably with dishonorable intentions.
A 'spindle-shanked beau' is a fashionable gentleman with thin calves. Muscular calves were admired in the 18th century, a period when men's clothing was designed to display the lower leg.