The get's no good

Ernest Hemingway の 'The Garden of Eden' を読んでいます。

How fast will it go?"
"I didn't say anything about speed. What are you talking about?"
"Sorry."
"It's what you have, so have a lovely time."
"We do."
"So I see. There's only one thing."
"What?"
"Take good care of her."
"That's all you've got to tell me?"
"One small thing more: The get's no good."
"There isn't any get yet."
"It's kinder to shoot the get."

" The get's no good" とその後の文に出てくる名詞の "get" の意味が辞書を見てもわかりません。
これもChatGPTに訊いてみました。

ChatGPT: In the quoted excerpt from The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway, the word "get" is used in a specific and somewhat archaic or regional sense. "Get" here refers to the offspring or progeny of an animal, and by extension, it can also mean a child or offspring more generally.

So, when the speaker says, "The get's no good," they are expressing an opinion that any offspring resulting from the union being discussed would be undesirable, flawed, or problematic in some way. The follow-up line, "There isn't any get yet," confirms that they're speaking hypothetically or about potential offspring. The grim suggestion, "It's kinder to shoot the get," reflects a harsh and fatalistic viewpoint, implying that the offspring would suffer or cause suffering and that it would be more merciful to prevent that.

This language and sentiment align with Hemingway's often sparse and emotionally charged style, where brief dialogue carries significant weight and darker themes are suggested with minimal exposition.

なるほど、古い言葉なのですね。追加で現代の若い人はこの意味が分かるのかも訊いてみました。

The term "get," used to mean offspring or progeny, is indeed archaic and primarily found in older literature or specific regional dialects. Among contemporary younger audiences, especially those who haven't encountered it in literature, farming contexts, or historical language studies, the word in this sense is largely unfamiliar.
Unless they have studied works like Hemingway's or encountered the term in academic or rural settings, most young people today are unlikely to recognize or understand "get" as referring to offspring. Instead, they might interpret it literally as the common verb "to get," leading to confusion without contextual clues or guidance.
This makes literature education especially important in helping readers grasp not just the literal meaning of archaic or uncommon terms, but also the deeper thematic implications that such language often carries.