Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[zeppy]

what's the meaning of the underlines ? thanks for your kindly reply !
---------------------------------
Monica: You know Paul?

Frannie: Paul the Wine Guy? Oh yeah, I know Paul.

Monica: You mean you know Paul like I know Paul?

Frannie: Are you kidding? I take credit for Paul. Y'know before me, there was no snap in his turtle for two years.

------------------------------------
Monica: I hate men! I hate men!

Phoebe: Oh no, don't hate, you don't want to put that out into the universe.
Monica: Is it me? Is it like I have some sort of beacon that only dogs and men with severe emotional problems can hear?

Phoebe: All right, c'mere, gimme your feet. (She starts massaging them.)

[bud]

to take credit for - to claim the responsibility for --- she is saying that his good qualities evolved because of her influence

there was no snap in his turtle for two years - I don't know for sure, but it sounds like he had been depressed (this refers to his mood) for two years. Maybe he had gone through a bad divorce? Once he met Frannie, his depression lifted.

put that out into the universe - Phoebe, as you know, believes strongly in what we call New Age beliefs... She is telling Monica not to throw her hate out to the stars and planets, as that will then infect others with hate.

beacon - A light that acts as a warning or signal. A lighthouse along the shore is a type of beacon... In this case, she is saying that she has some kind of auditory signal that attracts undesirable men to her. You could replace 'beacon' with 'radar' in that sentence for the same effect. (The slang meanings of the two words differ somewhat from the logic of their literal meanings.)

[zeppy]

thanks. bub.

but I was just thinking that Monica should say " see " instead of " hear" in this sentence "Monica: Is it me? Is it like I have some sort of beacon that only dogs and men with severe emotional problems can hear? "
cos beacon can be seen instead of " be heard" .

<quoted>
beacon - A light that acts as a warning or signal. A lighthouse along the shore is a type of beacon... In this case, she is saying that she has some kind of auditory signal that attracts undesirable men to her. You could replace 'beacon' with 'radar' in that sentence for the same effect. (The slang meanings of the two words differ somewhat from the logic of their literal meanings.)

[bud]

Yes, Zeppy, that makes sense. But the slang use does not correspond perfectly with the literal use. It follows a similar logic, even though not exactly the same logic.

[LucentShade]

Not to discredit bud, since I've been reading his quality posts for quite awhile, but "no snap in his turtle" has a different meaning.

The "snap in his turtle" refers to sexual performance, it's kind of a "clean" way of saying a vulgar idea (also known as a euphenism). A man who has no snap in his turtle is impotent; or, unable to have an erection.

Frannie is saying here, "Before I dated him, Paul could not perform (sexually) for two years." [Frannie believes that she has fixed Paul's problems.] The problem here is that Paul said the same thing to Monica earlier in the episode to convince her to have sex with him. Obviously, Paul is lying about this, which explains the next thing Joey says in Central Perk after the cut, "Of course it was a line!"--a line in this situation is something you say to someone you have a romantic or sexual interest in. ["Lines" are sometimes, but not always, false.]

[zeppy]

Thanks for your post ! Lucentshade .

But for a better understanding, could you expound to me why "no snap in his turtle " mean impotent ? that is , what 's the exact meaning of "snap" and "turtle" here ? or how does this slang originate ?

-zeppy

[LucentShade]

Zeppy--I did some checking into the phrase "no snap in his turtle," but I did not find any other examples of it on the web aside from this "Friends" episode. This leads me to believe that it may have been invented right there on the show. But, I do have an idea on how it was created. "Snap," of course, has many meanings, but most of them have to do with making a quick, sudden movement (or sound), often of a closing or biting nature. In North America, there is an animal known as a "snapping turtle," which is a type of turtle that is known to bite (or "snap") humans and other animals. From what I have heard, if one of those things bites you, it hurts a lot. Now, if one of these turtles can't snap, then there's not so much to fear--if they can't bite you, they can't hurt you. A snapping turtle with no (abilty to) snap, then, is powerless, and from there we have our slang. The word "impotent," aside from its sexual definition, also means "without power."

[Many English words that begin with im-,in,-il, or ir- are "opposite" words, like indefinite=not definite, illegal=not legal, irreal=not real, impossible=not possible]

The final step in defining this slang involves an animal serving as a substitute for the male sex organ. For example, the word "*beep*," which literally means "rooster" (common farm animal) is widely understood to mean "*beep*" in certain contexts. [Warning: use of the word "*beep*" in this way is rather obscene and vulgar, so be careful about it.] In the case of "Friends," they decided to use the word "turtle" in this way, and so a turtle without "snap" is understood by Franny and Monica to mean a man without (sexual) power or capability.

[zeppy]

What a clear explanation you made ! Many thanks to you. Lucentshade .

[LucentShade]

Whoops, I didn't know that this board had a censoring function. To any moderators that may have seen this, I was only typing those words for the sake of learning

Zeppy, if you need any more explanation of the *beep* words, let me know.