Speaking of Richard Henry Dana, at the end of his study, D. H. Lawrence states:
Dana lived his bit in two years, and drummed out the rest.
Could we say that "lived his bit" is akin to "sow (one's) wild oats"?
English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this communitySpeaking of Richard Henry Dana, at the end of his study, D. H. Lawrence states:
Dana lived his bit in two years, and drummed out the rest.
Could we say that "lived his bit" is akin to "sow (one's) wild oats"?
From the idiom do one's bit TFD
to make an individual contribution toward an overall effort.
and
bit: small part of something. TFD
As in:
Dana lived his bit ( the short but most 'contributing' part of his life) in two years, and drummed out the rest.
I do not sense sexuality in this sense of the use of 'bit'.