From the the novel "Fat City":
“That’s right, sure, they won’t go for just anybody.”
“If the right guy comes along he can score.”
“Everybody’s got a mate somewhere.”
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1Merriam-Webster: 3b: to be successful. Meaning he is picky about who he dates.– Weather VaneCommented Aug 28 at 18:43
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What's the source? What's the context?– Laurel ♦Commented Aug 28 at 18:43
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@WeatherVane thank you so much. Wouldn't it mean to have intercourse with her?– Soroush GhCommented Aug 28 at 18:47
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@Laurel from the the novel " Fat City "– Soroush GhCommented Aug 28 at 18:48
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Often, it does mean that. Or it could be more general. As in "I was a hit" – "I made a score / mark".– Weather VaneCommented Aug 28 at 18:49
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1 Answer
'He can score' here means 'he can persuade a woman to have sex with him'. The (fairly big) clues are in the text preceding and following that which you posted.
Gene Simms was working nights at the box factory, and the two began passing afternoons together. Driving his car or riding in Ernie’s, haggard, frowning, yawning, smoking with yellowed unsteady fingers, a blond oily lock hanging over his forehead, Gene talked mostly on the same subject, his descriptive powers arousing in Ernie a curious agitation and a fear that what he had with Faye might be of a quality below the possible or even the usual. “Well, I don’t know.”
“But you got to know what you’re doing.”
“That’s right, sure, they won’t go for just anybody.”
“If the right guy comes along he can score.”
“There isn’t a one that don’t want it,” said Gene.
“Everybody’s got a mate somewhere.”
“I don’t care who it is. You know Eleanor MacDonald? I plugged her.”
“I know, you told me.”
“You got to understand their minds. If you can get your knee between their legs you’re usually on your way.”
From 'Fat City' by Leonard Gardner
The subject is sex, and how to persuade women to let a man have it with them (success at this is one meaning of 'scoring'). 'Plugging' is a crude and vulgar way of referring to the sex act, and this points to the type of person Gene is, and his attitude towards women. This and the language that Gardner uses when describing him ('oily lock', 'yellowed unsteady finger') paints a picture of a sordid and unsavoury character.
Score (verb) [ Intransitive ] slang
to have sex with someone that you have usually just met:
Did you score last night, then?
answered Aug 28 at 20:02
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Thank you so much for the detailed explanation. Excuse me, I have another question. I hope I don't seem rude. At the following dialogue, why did Gene say, " I don't care who it is?" Why "it" not " she"? Would it imply that he doesn't care about gender of the person whom he wants to have intercourse with. Commented Aug 28 at 22:12
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1@SoroushGh given Gene's disposition as outlined in this answer, perhaps so, and it suggests he cares little about any human qualities. Contrast this with Ernie's “If the right guy comes along he can score,” and “Everybody’s got a mate somewhere,” and Ernie's fear that what he has with Faye may be too carnal for his liking. Commented Aug 28 at 23:10
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@WeatherVane excuse me. About your last sentence, could you explain more? Because I think it means he was shocked about his physical relationship with his wife when he heard Gene description. What he has heard about that subject we don't know, but what the narrator says makes us think that Ernie now thinks the number of lovemaking with his wife is few. Commented Aug 29 at 0:10
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2@SoroushGh - we can use 'it' about people when we don't know, care, or mind who they are. Who is it at the door? There will be a new manager next week, but I don't know who it will be. There is no automatic implication of indifference about gender; it's just more compact than saying or writing 'he or she'. These days we might use 'they'. Gene could, perhaps, equally well have said 'she' (he claims to be a voracious 'plugger' of women) , but using 'it' is appropriate, given his uncaring nature, as Weather Vane says. Also Gene is a worker in a box factory, not an English scholar. Commented Aug 29 at 7:34