"side things, would have to,...start with that stuff..."

Question

HiHere's a dialogue from "Friends".Ross: (squatting and reading the instructions) I'm supposed to attach a brackety thing to the side things, using a bunch of these little worm guys. I have no brackety thing, I see no whim guys whatsoever and- I cannot feel my legs.(Joey and Chandler are finishing assembling the bookcase.)........... Joey: (picking up a leftover part) What's this?Chandler: I would have to say that is an 'L'-shaped bracket.Joey: Which goes where?Chandler: I have no idea.(Joey checks that Ross is not looking and dumps it in a plant.)...........Ross: (clutching a beer can and sniffing) This was Carol's favorite beer. She always drank it out of the can, I should have known.Joey: Hey-hey-hey-hey, if you're gonna start with that stuff we're outta here.Chandler: Yes, please don't spoil all this fun.1. When Ross says "side things", does it mean the sides of the furniture that he's supposed to attach a brackety thing to it?2. In Chandler's second line, he says "I would have to say that is an 'L'-shaped bracket". How "would" works here? In my opinion, it might've been used to soften the impact but I'm not sure though. 3. When Joey says "if you're gonna start with that stuff......." does it mean something like "don't start again"? I will be very appreciative if you help me out. Thanks in advance.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

1. This is comedy, so what counts is that things sound funny, not that they are technically accurate. Exactly what a "side thing" is here is not really important. But what is important is that the line "I'm supposed to attach a brackety thing to the side things, using a bunch of these little worm guys." sounds ridiculous, and funny.

2. In this line the "L-shaped bracket" see

2. In this line the "L-shaped bracket" seems to be one of the "brackety things" that Ross just mentioned he can't find. The wording, "I would have to say that is an 'L'-shaped bracket.", is exactly right for the situation. There is an ironical sense here, which the modal "would" indicates. This is what Ross is apparently looking for, but rather than give it to Ross, they dump it. Again, humor rather than technical accuracy.

3. I'm not familiar with this show so I don't know the relationship between Ross and Carol, and I'm not sure what Ross is doing. Is he drinking a beer that was Carol's favorite brand, or is he smelling an old beer that Carol left there? And I'm not sure what he means by "I should have known." This might mean that Ross doesn't like the idea that Carol was there with Joey and Chandler and left an unfinished beer. Or he is drinking Carol's brand of beer and reminiscing, and then doesn't like the idea that they have Carol's brand here - indicating that she was also here.

"side things, would have to,...start with that stuff..."

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions