Meaning of "tore embery fingers against..."

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Dear Teachers,

I read this passage that describes premenstual syndrome:

“The blood rolled and splashed, and bits of matter tore embery fingers against her insides.”

I can’t find “embery” in my dictionary and can’t figure out what it meant by “tore embery fingers against her insides”. Could you explain to me?

2

Hi apo

I assume that “embery” means “like embers”. Embers are the glowing remnants of a fire. Embers can burn you (cause pain) and also have a reddish glow. So the imagery seems to fit the context.

Are you a woman, APO? I mean, do you know from first-hand experience what premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is?

As a description of PMS, I personally find the sentence pretty weird.

Amy

3

Hi, Amy,

Thanks for your reply. This doesn’t match with my experience, either. I guess the writer just based on his imagination and tried to give PMS a rather artictic description.

4

Hi all potted out

That was exactly my feeling! :lol:
I got the feeling that the sentence had been written by a man who has no real idea whatsoever what PMS is, but thought himself qualified enough to attempt a “creative” description. :roll:

Amy

5

Amy, do you remember once I asked this question, but could not get this point across? :frowning:

You see your sentence is affirmative by nature, starting with I mean. Why should we use a question mark against it? Or is it used?

Waiting for the answer

Tom

6

Hi Tom

I used “I mean” to indicate that the question that was being asked was actually rephrasing of the previous question.

Amy