I'm kind of confused:(

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Hi all,I have two questions for you, if you have time please answer me. 1. "Here's lookind at you"  says Rick to Ilsa before drinking instead of "cheers" in "Casablanka". What does it mean? Can you explain. I know, it should be like that and I should use if I want to speak English as native speakers.2. "Hi there" usually says native speakers, but why it is? There means "there", isn't it?Have a nice time!Guldana

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

I have two questions for you, if you have time please answer me.

1. "Here's looking at you" says Rick to Ilsa before drinking instead of "cheers" in "Casablanka". What does it mean?

It has very little real meaning. It's just something that has become popular to say in such circumstances, probbly becaus people like the movie so much.

Can you explain. I know, it should be like that and I should use if I want to speak English as native speakers.

2. "Hi there" usually says native speakers, but why it is? There means "there", isn't it?

Again, it has very little real meaning. Perhaps the underlying idea is simply that 'I am here, you are there. Hello.' But nobody thinks about such things.

Clive

MalRey · Answer

Guldash1. "Here's looking at you" says Rick to Ilsa before drinking instead of "cheers" in "Casablanca". What does it mean? Can you explain. I know, it should be like that and I should use if I want to speak English as native speakers.

See this thread:

Guldash · Answer

Thanks Sir. Your explanations hasn't very little real meaning:))

Cayuse · Answer

"Hi there" is usually used when you didn't realize the other person was in your presence.

You can think of it as "Hi. I didn't realize you were there." which can be interpreted as genuine surprise, like when someone sneaks up on you, or when you meet someone that you weren't expecting in an unusual place.

For example, you are facing away from the door to your office, and eventually become aware that someone is standing behind you: "oh, hi there"

It can also be used to somewhat rudely suggest that if you had known the other person was around, you would have taken care to avoid talking to them.

For example, a snooty woman sees a person that annoys them in a mall. She tries but fails to get away before the annoying person notices them.

annoying person: "Hi Mrs. Jones!"

snooty person "Oh.. Hi there janet."

This latter case is one you see in movies and television fairly often.

CalifJim · Answer

Guldash"Here's looking at you, [ kid ]"

I take this as the equivalent of "To your health!" or "Cheers!" a formulaic phrase said before taking a drink and meant as wishing well to one's fellow drinker(s). This particular exclamation is a novel phrase of its kind, and in my opinion it should be left to its own context within that movie. You do not ever need to use the phrase in your use of English any more than you will ever need the phrase "Call me Ishmael", which begins the famous novel Moby D ick. In fact, you risk looking a little silly quoting a line from a movie in an ordinary situation where you are having a drink with someone.

Guldash"Hi there"

Actually there doesn't mean there (i.e., in that place) in this case - odd as it may seem. I believe the linguist George Lakoff (Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things, The University of Chicago Press, 1987) would call it the perceptual deictic. (That's if you want a fancy name for it.) It is an indicator that the speaker has perceived you, that he has noticed your presence - which explains why he is greeting you with a "Hello". So Hello there ~ I recognize your presence and I greet you. (hi or hello - it doesn't matter which. hi is even more casual than hello.) Note that you don't use there after hello when answering the phone; you haven't recognized anybody yet at that point.

The word there is used in English in some ways that are baffling to non-native speakers. Lakoff discusses many similar uses of here, there, come, and go in his book (pp 500ff). He gives examples of the perceptual deictic (There's Harry; There's the beep), the discourse deictic (Now there's a good point; Here comes the best part), the existence deictic (There's a baby on the way; There goes our last hope), the activity-start deictic (There he goes, meditating again), the presentational deictic (There without a stitch of clothes on lay the victim), and the delivery deictic (There you are - one pizza with sausage and mushrooms).

CJ

I'm kind of confused:(

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