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What do the sentences in bold mean from Macgyver S01E01?

I know the meaning of trade but I’m confused what dose it mean in this context, I thought it means the activity of selling and buying goods.

MacGYVER: It's funny, you know, the kind of stuff that pops into your head when you're trying to work. I remember there was this horse... A golden palomino. Old Man McGinty had got him in a trade, I think. I couldn't have been much more than nine or ten at the time, but I'd made up my mind I was going to ride that horse. 'Course, knowing Old Man McGinty, that was going to take some doing. Well, first off, there was his dog, Hector. They didn't come any meaner or louder than Hector. One whiff of me heading for that corral, and Hector'd have the old man down on me like a shot. So much for Hector.

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    Not only is this an unfathomable wall of text, but if we're to explain all the bold, that makes it seven questions in one; not suitable for SE.
    – DoneWithThis.
    Commented Sep 17, 2022 at 10:34
  • He thinks that McGinty had acquired the palomino by an exchange with someone else, (probably for another horse).
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Sep 17, 2022 at 12:25
  • 2
    Do you know the meaning of "trade" in this context? If so, then "get {the horse} in trade" should be easy to interpret. So what is the specific difficulty with that line? I'd like to write a good answer, but I don't know exactly what your misunderstanding is.
    – James K
    Commented Sep 17, 2022 at 12:31
  • Kate Bunting, thank you for your help, I think it’s clear now. James K, Yes, I know the meaning of trade but I’m confused what dose it mean in this context, I thought it means the activity of selling and buying goods, thank you for your help.
    – Fay
    Commented Sep 17, 2022 at 13:16
  • Please don't post multiple questions with the same title or very similar titles: it's very confusing.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Sep 17, 2022 at 18:42

1 Answer 1

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Trade generally means "buying and selling", but in this context it means "an instance of bartering" That is, Old Man McGinty had not bought the horse with money, nor was it born in his stable, but he had exchanged something else for the horse.

The implication is that this is a better horse than McGinty could normally have been able to afford.

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  • Thank you for your help,,
    – Fay
    Commented Sep 21, 2022 at 12:18

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