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Gamboler Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Hotter than a five alarm waltz
I cannot understand this peculiar sentence (taken from the script of the movie "Night Editor", USA 1946)
The sentence is:
Pull yourself up a block and get your head chopped off. Necktie's hotter than a five-alarm waltz.
Context: Three people around a table, playing poker. The phone rings. One of the players gets up and answers the phone. The second player says the strange sentence to the third player while drinking a glass of bourbon.
I know that "Five-alarm Waltz" is the name of a Broadway play premiered in 1941 (thanks, Google), but I can't see the relationship between a block (for the executioner I guess), the verb "pull up", the head chopped off and a necktie. Is it maybe American slang related to the poker game? What does the speaker intend to say?
Any help will be much appreciated. To be able to translate the sentence into my language (Spanish) I need to understand its meaning. This is the only doubt I have, the rest of the dialogues are normal and understandable. Maybe some native can rewrite this odd sentence using easier words or expressions without altering the general idea that the scriptwriter had.
Thanks in advance.
The sentence is:
Pull yourself up a block and get your head chopped off. Necktie's hotter than a five-alarm waltz.
Context: Three people around a table, playing poker. The phone rings. One of the players gets up and answers the phone. The second player says the strange sentence to the third player while drinking a glass of bourbon.
I know that "Five-alarm Waltz" is the name of a Broadway play premiered in 1941 (thanks, Google), but I can't see the relationship between a block (for the executioner I guess), the verb "pull up", the head chopped off and a necktie. Is it maybe American slang related to the poker game? What does the speaker intend to say?
Any help will be much appreciated. To be able to translate the sentence into my language (Spanish) I need to understand its meaning. This is the only doubt I have, the rest of the dialogues are normal and understandable. Maybe some native can rewrite this odd sentence using easier words or expressions without altering the general idea that the scriptwriter had.
Thanks in advance.
Top answer
I guess: Pull yourself up a block and get your head chopped off. = Pull up a chair (= join the game) and lose all your money. - - My playing is very successful.
- I guess: Pull yourself up a block and get your head chopped off.
- = Pull up a chair (= join the game) and lose all your money.
- - - My playing is very successful.
- (I cannot figure out 'necktie' either, except that the reference relates to the other player's 'neck'.
- '
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9 Answers
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I guess:
Pull yourself up a block and get your head chopped off.= Pull up a chair (= join the game) and lose all your money.
Necktie's hotter than a five-alarm waltz.-- My playing is very successful. (I cannot figure out 'necktie' either, except that the reference relates to the other player's 'neck'.
Perhaps it could be rewritten as something simple like
Pull yourself up a block and get your head chopped off.= Pull up a chair (= join the game) and lose all your money.
Necktie's hotter than a five-alarm waltz.-- My playing is very successful. (I cannot figure out 'necktie' either, except that the reference relates to the other player's 'neck'.
Perhaps it could be rewritten as something simple like
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Thanks a lot, Mister Micawber.
I noticed that Necktie was the nickname of one of the players.
Your interpretation is very clear and it likely reflects what the scriptwriter wanted to express.
My only doubt is about the origins of the expression "five-alarm waltz". Is it related to the Broadway play premiered in 1941 or is it a common idiom? Does it mean literally that someone wa
I noticed that Necktie was the nickname of one of the players.
Your interpretation is very clear and it likely reflects what the scriptwriter wanted to express.
My only doubt is about the origins of the expression "five-alarm waltz". Is it related to the Broadway play premiered in 1941 or is it a common idiom? Does it mean literally that someone wa
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It is not a common idiom in my neck of the woods, and I do not know the meaning in the original play. I did find that the play was not actually hot at all: it was a mediocre production that closed after two nights. I suspect rather that the phrase 'five-alarm waltz' has lost its connection with its source for most readers here but is used because it sounds 'hot' and catchy. It is a phrase that t
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gambolerthe origins of the expression "five-alarm waltz"."five-alarm" (like "two-alarm", "three-alarm", etc.) are designators for the severity of a fire.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple-alarm_fire
So, "five-alarm" means "extremely hot" or
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Well, I have the opposite opinion.
The play, Five Alarm Waltz, opened on Broadway March 13, 1941 and closed on March 15, 1941 after four performances. It was a terrific flop (which means that it lost a lot of money.)
So probably if he's playing like a Five Alarm Waltz, he's losing very badly, not winning. "Hotter" is being a bit sarcastic, because that implies winning, not losing...
The play, Five Alarm Waltz, opened on Broadway March 13, 1941 and closed on March 15, 1941 after four performances. It was a terrific flop (which means that it lost a lot of money.)
So probably if he's playing like a Five Alarm Waltz, he's losing very badly, not winning. "Hotter" is being a bit sarcastic, because that implies winning, not losing...
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I can't agree.
I don't think it's unreasonable to suppose that the expression 'a five-alarm waltz' existed well before the play of the same name, and it already had a meaning independent of any play that flopped.
Anyway he's (playing) hotter than a five-alarm waltz, not (playing) hotter than "Five Alarm Waltz".
And the directionality would be wrong if the second case we
I don't think it's unreasonable to suppose that the expression 'a five-alarm waltz' existed well before the play of the same name, and it already had a meaning independent of any play that flopped.
Anyway he's (playing) hotter than a five-alarm waltz, not (playing) hotter than "Five Alarm Waltz".
And the directionality would be wrong if the second case we
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Thanks to everybody that contributed with different opinions.
To Clive: Alphecca Stars was right, you can find this script online in several web pages.
To Clive: Alphecca Stars was right, you can find this script online in several web pages.
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