Show 668 Tuesday 11 March

Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV or Crackle.

Hi I’m Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show.

The movie I recommend today is Men in Black. It came out in 1997 and it’s a science fiction comedy action film.

I like it. It’s funny. Pretty cheesy, but cheesy in a good way, I think. And I like Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.

Men in Black is also a term, which I had no idea until I typed it into Wikipedia.

The term Men in Black (MIB), in popular culture, is used in UFO conspiracy theories to describe men dressed in black suits, sometimes with glowing eyes or other monstrous features, claiming to be government agents who attempt to harass or threaten UFO witnesses into silence.

At the start of the movie Will Smith is a police officer and he’s chasing a guy who he thinks is just a normal criminal but he’s actually a robot or an alien or something ... I’m not too good with the details of science fiction movies, I just like the cheesy dialogue.

Anyway, Will Smith catches up to the guy and the guy says: He's coming. He’s coming because I failed and now he'll kill me, too.

And then James, Will Smith’s character says: Yeah, well you just pissing everybody off today, huh?
Which means: Yeah, well you’re making everybody angry today, aren’t you?

To be pissed off means to be annoyed or angry and to piss somebody off means to make somebody angry or annoyed.

Leaving out the are, saying, you just pissing everybody off, instead of saying, you’re just pissing everybody off, is a kind of non-standard English.

And saying huh is an American thing.

In New Zealand that sentence might go: Yeah, well you’re just pissing everybody off today, eh.

Will Smith’s next line is: What the hell are you?
Which means: What are you? Adding the hell is a way to convey your surprise or shock.

You can add the hell to most sentences beginning with what, who, when, where, why, how to convey emotions such as surprise, anger, bewilderment.

What the hell is The Daily English Show?
Who the hell is the girl in the video?
Why the hell is she rambling on about Men in Black?
How the hell can anyone learn English from this show?
When the hell is she going to shut up?

STICK NEWS

Kia Ora, in Stick News today, the health department in Minnesota in the United States has said that bars can’t get around the non smoking rule by pretending to be theatres.

In Minnesota, there’s an act called the Freedom to Breathe Act.
The act is designed to ban smoking in bars but it excludes actors in theatrical performances.
Apparently some bars have been trying to get around the act by holding "theatre nights". They call visitors to the bars "cast" and call the entrance a "stage entrance”.
But The Minnesota Department of Health isn’t having a bar of it.
The Commissioner of Health said it was time for the curtain to fall on these theatrics so that employees, and all Minnesotans, are protected from secondhand smoke.

And that was Stick News for Tuesday 11th March.
Kia Ora

THE SNOW REPORT
in Hirafu

On Sunday there was a competition in Hirafu called Namara Ippatsu. There was a lot of pretty stylish jumping going on and there was even a bear in the competition. I’m going to make a full video about it another day.

conversations with sarah
#408 What the hell are you?

Watch this dialogue here from 1:20.

Step 1: Repeat James’ lines.
Step 2: Read James’ lines and talk to Perp.

James What's up?

Perp He's coming. He’s coming because I failed and now he'll kill me, too.

James Yeah, well you just pissing everybody off today, huh?

Perp You don't understand. Your world's gonna end. (blinks)

James What the hell are you?

notes

a kind of non-standard English

After I finished editing this, I did some more reading and, apparently, dropping the “be” is a grammatical characteristic of African American Vernacular English (a variety of American English). So I guess that’s why Will Smith’s character left it out.

isn't having a bar of it
to not have a bar of sth = to disagree with something and refuse to allow it

time for the curtain to fall on these theatrics = time for this activity (these theatrics) to stop (the curtain to fall)
He's using a theatre metaphor to talk about what they are doing

links

today's news
Health Department's press release
today's STICK NEWS pictures

music

show start
artist: BrunoXe
album: aprendiendo desde 2004
track: Mandrake
from: Jerez, Spain
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

the snow report start
artist: Olga Scotland
album: Scotland Yard
track: Absolute
from: Moscow, Russia
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

the snow report bgm
artist: DJ iPep's

album: Home Mix 2007

track: Scratch intro

from: EVREUX, France

album at Jamendo

artist at Jamendo

artist site

cws start
artist: San Sebastian
track: Happy Sad
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: Groovetracks
tracks: groovetracks ending
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: Music is Love
album: Episode # 2
track: Arcobaleni
from: Castellammare di Stabia, Italy
artist at Jamendo
album at Jamendo
artist site

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