What does "a" mean in "playing a in the dark" in the Twitter tweet quoted below? "'We all dance around in a ring and suppose but truth sits in the middle and knows" & ...life is playing a in the dark with NO referee pal...'" from Sly Stallone's Twitter at http://twitter.com/theslystallone . The first part is from a Robert Frost, but the second part by Stallone is confusing.

Expert Answers

An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

With regard to "tweets," as anyone can publish them, it's hard to get a good take on the content. It's nice that Robert Frost's poem, "A Secret Sits," is alluded to, short though it may be.

Stallone's line, "life is playing a in the dark with NO referee pal...", probably reflects nothing more than a typo. I have not seen slang used with "a." I have read some of Mr. Stallone's messages to get a sense of the kind of writer he is, and based on his style, I'm guessing it was an inadvertent slip.

Perhaps I assume too much, but if he "tweeting on the run," the way some of us text-message, that "a" may simply be slip of the...thumb, (rather than tongue).

Your question makes perfect sense, but I believe "a" is simply a mistake—though I wouldn't presume to tell you that I know for certain. Don't worry that it's "only" a tweet: the only "silly" question is one never asked. Above all, I hope this clarifies the text's content for you.

See eNotes Ad-Free

Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts.

Get 48 Hours Free Access
Approved by eNotes Editorial Team