Movie Lines: Answers

Posted on March 10, 2010 by fsdthreshold

Before I forget, I’ve noticed an interesting linguistic phenomenon that appears in the speech of Midwesterners. (Maybe it’s used in other parts of the country, too, but where I’ve heard it has been in the Midwest.) When some people make the possessive of the plural “you guys,” they say “your guys.” Have you noticed that? They’ll say, “I’d like to get your guys opinion.” I would say, “I’d like to get you guys’ opinion.” Interesting.

Anyway, I’ve finally put up the answers to the movie lines posting. For ease of checking, I put them right into the previous entry itself, so you can see the answer below each line. Did anyone get them all right? How did you do?

39 Responses to Movie Lines: Answers

  1. Michelle Muenzler says:

    Well, actually those are both a bit odd. Everyone knows the real way to say that is, “I’d like to get y’all’s opinion.” Nothing like two apostrophes in a single word to let somebody know you care about what they think…

    Reply
    • fsdthreshold says:

      Heh, heh! I have relatives who talk like that! Y’all is the plural of you, and “all of you [plural]” is expressed as “all y’all.”

      Speaking of two apostrophes: the Midwest has a restaurant chain called “Steak ‘n Shake.” Why isn’t it “Steak ‘n’ Shake”? If the “a” from “and” is missing, so is the “d”! I think we need to organize an army of volunteers to go and paint in the second apostrophe at any Steak ‘n Shakes we happen across.

      Reply
  2. Jedibabe says:

    I like the southern version, but my time in NYC left me with an appreciation of the guido version: “Yo, I’d like ta get you’se guys opinion.” Spoken with the requisite Rocky Balboa accent. Pretty funny in real life.

    I never noticed the Midwestern version while I was there in Ames, Iowa, but maybe three years wasn’t enough time to sharpen my ears to such nuances.

    Ok, now I am really going back to work on the thesis. Really. Here I go. Can’t wait.

    Reply
    • fsdthreshold says:

      That’s a good variation, too!

      And best wishes on the thesis! I respect all youse guys who have written theses!

      Reply
  3. Danny Kaye says:

    I simply loved all those movie lines. Especially when _I_ came up in conversation! My side-splitting antics make everything more and more wonderful.

    As Bingo said: “You might have been stuck with this weirdsmobile for life!”

    Recently while talking to my good friend, Chris (at a seance, of course, since I died back in 1987), we agreed that the best lines happen in the movie “The Planet of the Apes” (that’s where the ““Beware the beast Man, for he is the devil’s pawn. Alone among God’s primates, he kills for sport…” line comes from. Cornelius is reading from the sacred scrolls.

    Hey did anyone else wish that the wall had fallen on me in “White Christmas”?

    Reply
    • fsdthreshold says:

      Thanks! I never dreamed that one day Danny Kaye would help me out with THE PLANET OF THE APES trivia!

      P.S. — Can I have your autograph? I know you’re deceased, but it’s for my mom, who is also deceased. Come to think of it, can you just look her up over there? It would be easier to take care of on y’all’s side of the fence.

      Reply
      • Danny Kaye says:

        Well, Fred, I’m glad I could help out. You know I have a vast amount of knowledge on Planet of the Apes trivia. I’ve got a lot of time on my hands here in Heaven and, well, you know, you have to do something to fill the time.

        So I read. But unfortunately the only books available here in Heaven are novelizations of movies. So I can’t even get the Pierre Boulle original book…just the novel versions of the sequels.

        Oh well. Whatcha gonna do?

        Reply
  4. Chris says:

    My time in the South taught me many valuable lessons in regards to “Southern Grammar”. Key among them is in relation to the proper use of “y’all”.

    When addressing a single person is it’s proper use is “y’all”.

    Example: “Y’all better get a move on if’n y’wanna get to the theater.”

    If, however, it is addressing a large group of people the plural is “All Y’all”.

    Example: “What do all y’all want from me?”

    At least this was largely true in New Orleans. And to some lesser extent in Atlanta.

    Reply
  5. I knew some of these says:

    Chris jumped the shark for me, Fred. Yes, it was Planet of the Apes. And for both of you — nah-nah-na-nah-nah: I own a hardcover of Pierre Boulle’s novel!

    The Land That Time Forgot! Oh baby! “But he is not very good against lifeboats, is he?”
    And “Leaving? We are leaving Caprona?” We had SO much fun with that one, and with Island at the Top of the World, too. Am I wrong, or was David Hartman one of the stars in ‘Island’?

    Jedibabe: when were you at Iowa State? I live only 40 miles away.

    Atheistic boob: As someone who visited Tuscaloosa, Alabama every year for 20+ years, I can tell you that “y’all” is more a fixation of Northerners. By far the more frequent Dixie-ish term if ‘fixin’. As in “I am fixin to go to the store.” or “He’ll be fixin to stop by soon” or “she is fixin to catch hell over wearing that”.

    Another Southern idiom (is this the proper term/usage) is ‘Coke’. All soft drinks are “Cokes”. If someone ask “you wanna ‘Coke'” and you say “sure, thanks” they will respond “what kind?” ‘Coke’ in Alabama can be Coke, Pepsi, orange, root beer, 7-up, whatever, but it is never used for Dr. Pepper, which, for some reason, is always “Pepper”.

    Reply
  6. Shieldmaiden says:

    Brown Snowflake: I love this topic of “a Coke” is a soda and have noticed it is not only in the south that certain brand names have replaced the product name. There are more I am sure, but here’s a few:
    a Coke (soda) as mentioned
    a Xerox (copy)
    a Kleenex (tissue)
    a Pamper (diaper)
    a Binky (pacifier)
    Way’ll it’s pert’ner 1:00 and I’m fixin to leave.
    And Zoë welcome to the blog, I hope you stick around, it’s nice having another girl on board.

    Reply
    • Chris says:

      This is actually a big problem in the field of INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. It’s called “Genericide” (or “Genericization”). It can be a problem when a product becomes so dominant that it’s name becomes the generic term for the item.

      There are steps companies go to in order to avoid loss of their ability to “enforce” the trade mark. So companies start using phrases like “Band-Aid Brand…” or use of a generic term like “Kleenex tissues” (the tissue being the generic term) to help do whatever they can to show they have maintained the integrity of their “house mark”.

      Apparently Google is having to deal with this issue every day as we speak. Considering how many people use “google” as a common verb I’m wondering how long they can keep their control of the trademark.

      Here’s a link to explain some of it in more detail: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/metaschool/fisher/domain/tm.htm#genericity

      (Just in case you are really, really, really, really, really bored.)

      Reply
      • Shieldmaiden says:

        GOOGLE! Thats the one I couldn’t remember! My husband and I just had this conversation a few days ago and I knew there was another one we’d talked about. Now I will sleep tonight (thanks).

        Reply
  7. I knew some of these says:

    I, too, wish to welcome Zoe to the blog and must ask Jedibabe if Hickory Park is still the best BBQ rib joint she has ever been to (outside the South, of course).

    Chris, I would rather see a bunny with a pancake on his head than be bored enough to follow up at your suggested website, but I am glad you enlightened us all further on the topic, as I can see where it could be a big issue.

    Great to see Shieldmaiden is back with us, too!

    An unusual Iowa term is to refer to what I have always called a ‘couch’ (some say ‘sofa’) as a ‘davenport’ which is ridiculous, because why would a dump like one of the Quad Cities take its name from a piece of furniture? Also, many Iowas refer to the state capital as “Des Moinez” instead of “Des Moines” as in ‘some monks.’ (like the annoying slaughter of ‘Illi-noiz’ for ‘Illinois’). Gad!

    Reply
  8. fsdthreshold says:

    My mom always called our couch a “davenport,” so I grew up saying that, too. (And my mom never said “refrigerator.” It was always the “ice box.”)

    The trade magazines for writers are filled with ads from companies begging writers to help protect their trademarks. Exactly as you described, Chris, they take out huge ads instructing us, when we write our fiction, not to say “rollerblades” but to say “Rollerblade in-line skates.” We shouldn’t say “wite-out,” but “Wite-Out correcting fluid.” We should write “Post-It self-adhesive notes.”

    Isn’t it interesting that these companies recognize what an impact writers have? If the public reads such things in books and stories, they’re apparently much more likely to use the copyrighted names correctly or incorrectly. I like how the companies acknowledge fiction writers as “shepherds” or something.

    Reply
    • Daylily says:

      And just think how that will improve the flow of your writing, to use three words when one or two would do! I myself would be inclined to avoid the tradename altogether, as in “correcting fluid,” “in-line skates,” “sticky notes,” and “facial tissue.” Why give the companies free advertising? (Erma Bombeck used to write “nose tissue,” which always made me smile. It was probably not the preferred designation of the tissue companies!)

      Reply
      • fsdthreshold says:

        If we really wanted to irk the Kleenex corporation, we could refer to the product in our stories as Kleenex snot tissues. Of course, I don’t think I’d want to write that story. . . .

        Rollerblades could be “Rollerblade ankle-threatening in-line skates.”

        Post-its could be “Post-it not-very-adhesive notes, the kind that fall off immediately, so you have to use Scotch surface-marring wallpaper-destroying clear tape.”

        Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh!

        Reply
  9. I knew some of these says:

    When I buy Kleenex I prefer to purchase Puffs brand, but I still call them Kleenex. Just yesterday I bought some Q-Tips, but they were the generic cotton swab. Guess next time I eat a ratburger I will have to say “White Castle grilled square sandwich.”

    Reply
  10. I knew some of these says:

    hello? The last time I encountered this much silence we had just whistled for the boats on the second level and Terindar said “I have an idea …”

    Reply
    • fsdthreshold says:

      I sense a great Verralton story! What exactly was Terindar’s idea? I don’t think it was his idea about killing Death, was it?

      Sorry about the silence! Speaking for myself, I’m just getting over the 24-hour flu. My temperature got up to 102. But I’m fine again now!

      Reply
    • Scott says:

      I agree. This should be an interesting story.

      Fred, I wasn’t the one that uttered the infamous line about killing Death. It was Mr. B.S. I was the one that opened the door.

      Huh? Mr. Brown Snowflake. Mr. B.S. It all makes sense now! 😉

      Reply
  12. I knew some of these says:

    Scott is absolutely correct. The scenario played out in the small set of rooms off the southeast corner of the long ledge that marked the eastern border of the lake. We encountered runes or something of the sort on a door that read “Beyond this door is Death” and I said “If we could just kill Death we would all live a lot longer.” (This may have been one of those statements that led to the creation of the Pun/Penalty Fund).
    But it was Scott who was talked into actually opening the door, upon which …

    BTW: How did we convince ourselves that we could successfully transport a mule in one of those tiny boats? Gad (but boy, did we have fun) 🙂

    Reply
    • Scott says:

      You picked that as an example of all the illogical things we did? You had the ability to talk Fred into just about anything.

      Fred: A trap door opens up underneath you. You are falling into a pit.
      BS: I ram my sword into the wall to stop my fall.
      Fred: Won’t that damage the blade?
      BS: Huh? Umm…NO! It’s an elvish blade. It never gets dull. It’s like a light saber.
      Fred: Oh. Ok.

      Reply
  13. I knew some of these says:

    Ha ha! Is that any better than Michael being convinced, as he slid down a chute, that he could get his shield off his arm and under his feet to prevent damage from an impending 10-foot fall onto foot-high iron spikes? Or Michael jumping onto me so the ring of featherfall on my finger would also slow his plummet? Or Mr. Grundy insisting he could run down a hallway in full flight and yet still fire an arrow over his shoulder, off the ceiling, and into a pursuing nasty? Or Mr. Stare wanting to bring along two chickens in crates, which we could then set loose (to flutter about and confuse) just before turning tail and running, thus gaining a few extra seconds of escape time? Or, in the improbability of all time, Fred having the nerve to have Oomo as Acererak? (Remember Steve T’s explosion of rage? ha ha).

    Reply
    • Scott says:

      We all had our blond moments. I’m not arguing that. I probably had more than my fair share.

      But, it seemed like you got away with a lot more than anyone else could. You would argue with Fred and convince him that common sense and logic didn’t matter because Dungeons & Dragons was magic and fantasy. Most of the time it benefited the group as a whole, so we didn’t argue. Except for Mike and Tim, that was when we assessed a fine for use of logic.

      I’m getting old and my memory is slipping. I thought it was Untid Acererak. And I seem to remember you trying the old fire the arrow over the shoulder bit more than once.

      I don’t know. We have a couple of other Flail members that check in every once in a while. What’s you guys’s opinions on this? (Hah! I kept this post on subject.)

      Reply
      • fsdthreshold says:

        Yes, that’s right. It was Untid Acererak. Oomo the Old was the father of the . . . other ones like him. Ootid, of course, was the first one encountered, who wrote his name everywhere; Unmo, the next, shouted his name. What was the story on Untid? Did he, being illiterate and mute, have no recourse but to attempt to take over the world?

        About logic, the Party Leader didn’t really have to talk me into suspensions of logic.

        The best one, though, was when thief Brinn Tenser cast his Death spell down that enclosed stairwell crowded with enemy creatures. His homunculus was hiding down there, too, giving him a long-range ring-side seat. That is, until he cast the spell. . . .

        FRED: Your homunculus’s vision goes dark.
        BRINN: Oh, man!!!

        Reply
  14. Marquee Movies says:

    Hey, Teen Gang!
    Just a quick note to let you know that Ian McKellan has announced that The Hobbit begins shooting in July! Terribly exciting news, especially since the film (or films, I guess) was in such legal limbo for so long. It’s going to be in the 60’s here in Chicago today – a great day to think about The Shire – for those of you who LIKE thinking of such things.

    Reply
  15. Danny Kaye says:

    Wow! That’s fanastic news! I only hope they do as well as Rankin-Bass in the 1970’s! Yowza.

    My friend, Chris, will actually watch this precisely because it was the Hobbit that got him hooked on LotR back in tha day, despite the Shire’s treacly goodness.

    But you know what is incredibly weird (even by my admittedly long standards)? For some reason Chris did a lot of reading of the Hobbit and LotR while listening to vintage Henry Mancini and to this day, whenever he hears “Mr. Lucky”, “Charade”, “Experiment in Terror” or even (gasp) “Moon River” he thinks of the Hobbit and LotR.

    It’s almost like that inveterate freak has Henry Mancini music as the soundtrack for Hobbit/LotR!

    Oh well, it’s back to reading Terry Brook’s novelization of “The Phantom Menace”, since, as I pointed out earlier, that’s all the books we have in Heaven.

    Reply
  16. I knew some of these says:

    What a faux pas on my part! Of course it was Untid, not Oomo!

    I do not recall these supposed “get away with anything” moments with the DM, though he might feel otherwise. HOWEVER, I DO remember battling Tim and Michael, who wanted everything explained by Steven Hawking.

    And, as I was there when Mr. Grundy tried the arrow-over-the-shoulder bit, I assure you I did not try it, EVER, as even then I knew it was beyond the pale. On top of that, I am not the one who ticked off the Chronosians by continually opening portals all over creation.

    But I will admit to wanting to punch holes in the gargoyles lungs so their bodies would sink to the bottom of the lake (gad …)

    Reply
    • Michael's Logical Pal says:

      Did I really want everything to be logical? I don’t remember it that way at all.
      I do remember how we used to communicate everything by hand signals whenever we wanted to be quiet. Mr. Snowflake used to say “Take three steps to the left, watch out for those orcs, and hand me the twelve-sided die” all with a single gesture. And now, thanks to clever technology, Stephen Hawking can do the same in real life.
      But seriously, I think our desire to invite Stephen Hawking into our fantasy world was way ahead of its time. Matt Groening did the same thing fifteen years later on Futurama.
      The way I remember it, Bugs Bunny was the really annoying distraction. Questions of logic were… only logical.

      Reply
      • fsdthreshold says:

        I think it was mostly Michael who pointed out the logical impossibilities. It’s funny how none of us “remember it that way at all” when someone else makes a claim about how it was.

        I certainly do remember those elaborate hand signals, which could communicate anything with ease in total silence — it must have been something to see! I remember times when the party would overrule itself on the use of hand gestures: someone would say, “No way — we couldn’t do that,” and everyone would agree.

        FUTURAMA is a fantastic series — incredibly funny! [“So, can we have all your money?” — “Oh, my, no!”]

        I’m sure everyone will recall that I was the one who never, ever approved of allowing Bugs Bunny to be always on the subject.

        Reply
  17. I knew some of these says:

    Bugs Bunny was my insistence, I proudly concede. I do know that I was against the heavy use of hand signals and I have proof: a yellowing sheet of legal paper on which are drawn the six hand signals I thought should have been allowed. Simple gestures, they would have been used for the following:
    1. stop and be quiet
    2. thief to the front
    3. enemy approaching
    4. retreat quietly
    5. something behind door (ready weapons)
    6. time for the BIG R

    There were going to be two more, but I could not figure out how to make the gesture simple using only one hand. They would have been: 7. somebody slap Terindar and, 8. how does my hair look?

    Fred and I are the authorities on “remember it that way at all” as it is the two of us who have maintained a Verralton-themed dialogue over the past 25 years, and it is I — and I DO say so myself — who has written volumes (as Fred can attest) on various matters.

    Now, as far as Futurama goes: it SUX. Family Guy rules, with American Dad a distant second and the Simpsons — which has not been funny for 10 years — not even on the chart. All pale, of course, to the original MSTK3, which in turn dies in comparison to Monty Python.

    Reply
  18. Scott says:

    Brown Snowflake,

    What was my idea at the Lake? Was that when I wanted to blow a hole in the wall and drain it into the trench to: A) Kill the monster of the Lake, and B) To get what I estimated to be a large amount of treasure that had accumulated at the bottom?

    Gad! Draining a wetlands. What was I thinking?

    By the way, what are they feeding those boys up at Northern Iowa?

    Reply
  19. I knew some of these says:

    It wasn’t until we were much more powerful that you had your idea: casting a succession of ‘passwall’ spells to open a channel between the Lake and the trench, thus draining said aqua. When we first discovered the Lake, we had only just acquired third level spells.

    We hesitated to do it because: their was the ‘invisible barrier’ across the northern end of the Lake, beyond which what appeared to be funeral barges floated (how did we keep Brinn from finding his way in to loot them?) and we did not want to piss off the Eian or the Keepers by radically changing Fred’s design — and by then we knew there was no ‘monster’ in the Lake (which, for some reason, we always capitalized, kind of like how I, who write for a living, show no talent for such by consistently using ‘I’, long drawn-out sentences and poor grammar, only some of which is intentional satire).

    As for those Northern Iowa boys, I think they are eating ‘Bracket Buster’ Burgers at The Feeding Post (a great diner in Cedar Falls).

    Reply
  21. Waldyne says:

    Hello stranger Fred,
    I was looking at your superb art and all I can say is its such a gift that you have so many talents! You are artist and writer and teacher and all good things of life. I will go into your site more often now I know where you are.
    Your up-northern Canada friend

    Reply
    • fsdthreshold says:

      Hello, Waldyne!
      It’s wonderful to see you here — thank you for coming! Please come often!
      When does spring reach you up there? Is the ice thawing yet? 🙂
      Fred

      Reply

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