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Could the word 'fat' mean 'big'? Here is the example, which I think 'fat' seems to mean 'big'.

It was a knothole in the roof. He cocked his head to one side, shut one eye and put the other one to the hole, like a 'possum looking down a jug; then he glanced up with his bright eyes, gave a wink or two with his wings - which signifies gratification, you understand - and says - 'It looks like a hole, it's located like a hole - blamed if I don't believe it is a hole. Then he cocked his head down and took another look; he glanced up perfectly joyful, this time; winks his wings and his tail both, and says, 'Oh, no, this ain't no fat thing, I reckon! If I ain't in luck!--why it's a perfectly elegant hole!'

(from 'Baker's blue-jay yarn' by Mark Twain)

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  • Yup, that sounds right. Note: We typically matk quotes with a preceeding '>', that gives the yellow background. Compare my other edits...
    – Stephie
    Aug 2, 2015 at 5:35
  • cool. How do you terminate the quote? And is there a list somewhere of these markup characters?
    – Brian Hitchcock
    Aug 2, 2015 at 6:36
  • @BrianHitchcock When you are posting/editing, there is a ? at the top right of the box header that links to markup help. A blank line will end the indentation.
    – StoneyB on hiatus
    Aug 2, 2015 at 12:32
  • A possibility would be "not much of a hole", in the sense we mean when we say one has not much of a chance -- "Fat chance the prom queen will go out on a date with you, you dweeb." Or it may be a reference to a ring used in a game of marbles. If the marble stays inside the ring when the game calls for it to get knocked out, the marble is said to be 'fat'. (See Wright's English Dialect Dictionary under fat). But that's just a conjecture
    – Tᴚoɯɐuo
    Aug 2, 2015 at 19:35

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