#1104 Always Blow On The Pie

Show 1104 Thursday 12 November
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show. Today we’re going to start getting into the English study again … and we’re going to study a video clip.

This video is from a New Zealand reality TV show called Police Ten 7. And the clip seems to have become quite popular on the internet recently – in New Zealand anyway – because people think it’s funny. And I think it’s funny too. So I thought I’d try and explain the situation, and why I think it’s funny and talk about a bit of the language.

A police officer is talking to a guy in the street. And they think he has been involved in a crime … but this officer is waiting for some more police officers to arrive, so he’s just talking to the guy and he’s trying to buy a bit of time.

And the guy has been doing something like stealing stuff, but he makes up a few stories about what he’s been doing. And he says: I was just going up the road to get me a pie or something.

It’s interesting how he uses me instead of myself. He says to get me a pie instead of to get myself a pie, or just to get a pie. And that’s pretty common in a certain variety of informal spoken English in New Zealand.

By a pie he doesn’t mean an apple pie or some kind of desert, he means a kind of savoury pie with various fillings, that’s a kind of popular junk food in New Zealand.

Then the officer says a joke. He asks the guy:

Three o’clock in the morning and you’re buying a pie from the BP station, what must you always do?

I don’t know.

Three o’clock in the morning, that pie’s been in the warming draw for probably about 12 hours, it’ll be thermonuclear. You must always blow on the pie.

I’m hungry.

Always blow on the pie. Safer communities together.

I think it’s mostly funny because of the delivery – he says it very seriously, well, pretending to be serious, but he’s actually joking. That kind of delivery is called: deadpan.

It’s also funny that he says the New Zealand Police slogan: Safer Communities Together.

So go and watch the video and tell me what you think. Do you think it’s funny?



Word of the Day

Today’s word is ditch.

Ditch is a noun which means: a narrow channel dug to hold or carry water.

There are usually ditches on either side of the road, so if you crash your car, you might end up in the ditch.

Ditch is also an informal verb. It says here: to get rid of sth/sb because you no longer want or need it/them.

The guy in the video is explaining to the police officer why he is a long way from home at 3Oclock in the morning and he says: My mates dropped me off and ditched me.

And he means that his friends stopped the car and let him out and then drove off and left him there for some reason.



conversations with sarah
#699 What’s that in your pocket?

Step 1: Repeat the officer's lines.
Step 2: Read the officer's lines and talk to the guy.

Officer What’s that in your pocket?

Guy Just my CD player.

Officer No, what’s that?

Guy It’s just a torch.

Officer Why have you got a torch?

Guy I don’t know, just to see around.

Officer Why do you need to see around?



Always Blow On The Pie


Always Blow On The Pie - LONGER VERSION


SCRIPT:

There’s plenty of evidence he’s spent a night out stealing.

What’s that in your pocket?
Just my CD player.
No, what’s that?
It’s just a torch.
Why have you got a torch?
I don’t know, just to see around.
Why do you need to see around?
What else have you got?
You don’t have to show me. You’re not obliged to or anything.
Ah, yeah, just my CD player.
Oh, OK. Why are your shoes all muddy?
I don’t know, they’ve always … muddy?
Yeah.
They’ve always been like this.
OK.
What part of town do you live?
Ah, Mangere, Mangere East.
You live in Mangere?
Yeah.
Oh, OK, you’re a long way from home tonight.
Yeah. **** My mates dropped me off and ditched me.
Your mates dropped you off and ditched you?
Yeah, cause we were meant to go to this party.
Where was the party?
Ah … one of these streets, not too sure.
One of these streets … I’ll get your name, eh.

Glen’s … so far failed to impress … he attempts another one, he gets an unusual response.

I was just up the road to get me a pie or something.
You got some money?
Yeah, I’ve got like $3.
How much?
Three dollars.
Three dollars? Does that buy you a pie?
At the BP station.
OK. 3 o’clock in the morning and you’re buying a pie from the BP station, what must you always do?
I don’t know.
Three o’clock in the morning, that pie’s been in the warming draw for probably about 12 hours, it’ll be thermonuclear. You must always blow on the pie.
I’m hungry.
Always blow on the pie. Safer communities together. OK?

And like the joke he’s had to endure, Glen’s evening has reached a bad end. As back up arrives, Glen’s instantly recognized as one of the guys who fled police at the scene.

Why’d you run? Why’d you run from me? Over there, you know what I’m talking about. Explain that for us.
I don’t know.
You don’t know?
You and your mates ran from me over there. Why’d you do it? You don’t know what I’m talking about. OK. I’m telling you now, I was over there. … Two of your friends were with a red Mazda. Do you remember that? Eh? You don’t remember it? I saw you over there. OK? I’m 100% positive that you ran from me. Because of that, you’re under arrest for unlawfully interfering with a motor vehicle. Do you understand that? Because you’re under arrest, you have the right … just listen, you have the right to refrain from making a statement, also you have the right to consult a lawyer without delay… Do you understand your rights?

Always Blow On The Pie guy on NZ morning TV show:


music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

WOD start
artist: DJ iPep's
album: Home Mix 2007
track: Game Toy
from: EVREUX, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

cws start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: The Jazz Woman
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: Paul D. Miller aka Dj Spooky
album: Dj Spooky's contribution for the 'One Laptop Per Child Project'
track: Moon rain
from: New York, United States
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

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