hoots and puffs

[lidiavianu]

What does the following mean?

characters created out of hoots and puffs

Thank you.

Lidia

[jno]

I don't know - it's not a common phrase, and I've actually never heard it before in my long life. But I would guess it means something like 'out of thin air' or 'insubstantial'. Where did you read it, in a book of literary criticism or something?

[lidiavianu]

It comes from a poem by Peter Ackroyd and instinctively I translated it as such, but your answer is very reassuring. Thank you.

Lidia