Both Uses of
rancid
in
Oryx and Crake
- He'd taken on that status when Crake had been twelve, a couple of years too old for the "uncle" tag to have been viewed by him as anything but totally rancid.†
p. 89.3 *
- But he holds a corner of his rancid sheet over his nose — at least it's his own smell — and makes his away across the mouldering broadloom, past the dim shapes of the plump reproduction furniture.†
p. 229.3
Definitions:
-
(1)
(rancid) bad -- most directly referring to the smell of oils or fats that have decomposed because they are not fresh enough, but metaphorically the word can refer to anything considered bad
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Much more rarely, rancid can reference anything that is repugnant or offensive -- such as disgusting comments.