Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

H: So what do you get when a six-foot-tall man lays down with a three-foot-long rifle?
C: Hot flashes... but that's just me

why "hot flashes*?

Thanks

[advoca]

This is an American joke. In America they use the word flash to mean your face goes red because you are hot or ill, or because you are feeling a strong emotion such as embarrassment or anger. Therefore you can get hot flashes. The gun flashed. The gun got hot. It had hot flashes. (Joke)

A flash is a sudden burst of light or of something shiny or bright.
The gun fired and there was a flash of light.
A sudden flash of lightning lit everything up for a second.
The wire snapped at the wall plug with a blue flash and the light fused.
A jay emerged from the juniper bush in a flash of blue feathers.

In British English you flush if your face gets red because of illness or emotion.
She is unwell. She gets hot flushes.
Do you sweat a lot or flush a lot?
She turned away embarrassed, her face flushing red.

[missdaredevil]

thank you for such detailed explanation

[missdaredevil]

[bud]

In the U.S., hot flashes (both words together) most often refers to a symptom of a woman going through menopause. She will all of a sudden feel very hot regardless of the air temperature. They usually last for a brief period, but can occur frequently.

I wonder if C is a woman in menopause? Maybe that's why the tag line, "... but that's just me." Just a guess, though.

"To lay down with" means to lie down with a person or thing. You might lay down with a child until they go to sleep because they are sure that there is a monster hiding under the bed... You will often lay down with your lover.