phrase-meaning
Source: Englishtown Lesson
Stuck for an angle for a story, Lukas took himself out onto the streets and let himself be inspired by the people and things around him.
What does "stuck for an angle" mean in the above context? What can be used instead of that phrase?
“Be” is an imperative. You've probably encountered that construction with other adjectives such as “be quiet” (act in such a manner as not to make noise), “be still” (act in such a manner as not to move), “be on time” (act in such a manner as not to be late), …
The adjective “done” means finished with a particular action. “Be done” is an idiom. If you take it literally, it means either “arrange to have finished now”, which cannot be done, or “arrange to have finished in the future”, which would mean “do it”. What “be done” actually means is “finish this soon”: it's a command to complete a task quickly.
In this passage, Voldemort is unhappy that Quirrell is taking too much time killing Harry, and instructing him to finish the task so that they can move on to do other things.
It is common at publicity events such as film premiers for the stars to walk along a red carpet to the event's entrance.
Lesser mortals, both press and public, are kept behind a barrier and off the carpet. This barrier is usually made of a red rope, to match the carpet.
Those behind the red rope will take photographs and ask for autographs. They will also gossip amongst themselves about the celbrities walking past. The quotation you give indicates that some celebrities take exception to some of the comments that they hear. Thus 'red rope rage' is a euphemism for the expression of discontent by a celebrity at comments from people at such a publicity event.
Best Answer
An "angle" is a perspective on a story, a way to tell it, a way to frame the details so that it would be interesting to the readership.
When a person is "stuck", they're unable to make progress, like a car whose wheels are "stuck in the mud". If you're trying to solve a math problem, for example, but you can't envision the solution, you can say "I can't figure it out. I'm stuck."
for there means "with respect to".
The author is not making any progress with respect to thinking of an interesting way to tell the story.