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This is a piece of text from the novel "The Salem's Lot". What is the author trying to say in the last line and what does " so's " mean??

The text is:

"You can have my riot gun if you want it. That gun, it was Nolly’s idea. Nolly liked to go armed, he did. Not even a bank in town so’s he could hope someone would rob it."

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The meaning of that is

You can have my riot gun if you want it. Nolly liked having powerful weapons, and getting the riot gun was his idea. It was a weird idea of course for this quiet community: did he imagine that he was going to have to deal with a gang of bank robbers when we are too small to have a bank?

It is spoken in uneducated English, and half the substance is implied rather than expressed. It is quietly making fun of Nolly.

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  • What does " so's" mean though?
    – English--more exc than laws
    Commented Aug 30, 2022 at 0:16
  • I mentioned that it is uneducated, colloquial speech. In received English, “so’s” would be “so that.”
    – Jeff Morrow
    Commented Aug 30, 2022 at 0:19
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    Technically "so's" would be short for "so as". But the meaning is often "so that".
    – David Siegel
    Commented Aug 30, 2022 at 0:29

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