https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1vz411e7ZR
“Later!” The word, the voice, the attitude.
I’d never heard anyone use “later” to say goodbye before. It sounded harsh1, curt, and dismissive, spoken with the veiled indifference of people who may not care to2 see or hear from you again.3
It is the first thing I remember about him, and I can hear it still today. Later!
I shut my eyes, say4 the word, and I’m back in Italy, so many years ago, walking down the tree-lined driveway, watching him step out of the cab, billowy blue shirt, wide-open collar, sunglasses, straw hat, skin everywhere. Suddenly he’s shaking my hand, handing me his backpack, removing his suitcase from the trunk of the cab, asking if my father is home.
It might have started right there and then: the shirt, the rolled-up sleeves, the rounded balls of his heels slipping5 in and out of his frayed espadrilles, eager to test the hot gravel path that led to our house, every stride already asking, Which way to the beach?
This summer’s houseguest. Another bore6.
Then, almost without thinking, and with his back already turned to the car, he waves the back of his free hand and utters a careless7 Later! to another passenger in the car who has probably split8 the fare from the station. No name added, no jest to smooth out9 the ruffled leave-taking, nothing. figurative
His one-word send-off: brisk, bold10, and blunted11——take your pick, he couldn’t be bothered which.
can't be bothered (to do something)
used to say that you do not want to spend time and/or energy doing something
I should really do some work this weekend but I can’t be bothered.
All this has happened because you couldn’t be bothered to give me the message.
You watch, I thought, this is how he’ll say goodbye to us when the time comes. With a gruff, slapdash Later! Meanwhile, we’d have to put up with him for six long weeks. I was thoroughly intimidated. The unapproachable sort12.
I could grow to like him, though. From rounded chin to rounded heel. Then, within days, I would learn to hate him.
figurative
This, the very person whose photo on the application form months earlier had leapt out with promises13 of instant affinities.
My take on this is that the narrator is impressed14 with the fact that his friend (or whoever) has shortened the usual farewell—“See you later”—to the much simpler “Later.” This is the sense15 in which blunted makes more sense than blunt. The phrase is not simply direct. It has been shortened, made blunt.
I can’t say for certain why the author did not also go for brisked and bolded.
They sound strange to my ears and might have to the author’s as well.
I’m tempted16 to say that blunt is commonly used as a verb, while brisk is not—but artists take liberties. He could have done so but apparently chose not to.
Footnotes
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unpleasant to listen to; a harsh voice ↩
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be interested in doing something ↩
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后置定语 ↩
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to repeat words, phrases, etc. 念；朗诵；背诵 ↩
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to slide a short distance by accident so that you fall or nearly fall 滑倒；滑跤 ↩
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a person who is very boring, usually because they talk too much ↩
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not showing interest or effort ↩
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to divide sth into two or more parts and share it between different people, activities, etc. She split the money she won with her brother. His time is split between the London and Paris offices. ↩
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smooth (something) out or smooth out (something) : to make (something) smooth or flat ↩
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brave and confident; not afraid to say what you feel or to take risks 大胆自信的；敢于表白情感的；敢于冒险的 ↩
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to make something weaker or less effective ↩
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a particular type of person ↩
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a sign, or a reason for hope that sth may happen, especially sth good 吉兆；迹象 The day dawned bright and clear, with the promise of warm, sunny weather. ↩
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feeling admiration for sb/sth because you think they are particularly good, interesting, etc. ↩
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the meaning that a word or phrase has; a way of understanding sth; The word ‘love’ is used in different senses by different people. ↩
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If you say that you are tempted to do something, you mean that you would like to do it. ↩