“They'd throw you in jail for a thousand years each!”
Why it's great
The absurd sentence length turns a legal threat into pure frontier humor.
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Informal
Use it yourself
They'd throw you in jail for what you did last night!
00:00 / 02:05
00:00 / 02:05
Butch and Sundance Try to Enlist, Explained
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid · 1969
Chapter 7 of 12 · 2'05"
On the surface, two outlaws walk into an army office asking to enlist and fight the Spanish. Underneath, they're begging for a way out of the lives they've run out of time for. "It's too late," they're told — their fame is real, but it can't buy them a clean slate.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:02–1:09
Two Outlaws Try to Enlist
67s - 1:29–2:03
❝ Monologue · 8 lines Ray's parting verdict
Short sentences pile pressure on the two men, then a dry self-mocking line closes it.
34s
Butch and Sundance Try to Enlist, explained
What happens
Butch and Sundance come to an army man named Ray with a plan: they'll enlist, and he can use the arrest to clear their records. To prove they can be trusted, they stage a fake capture, with Butch trussed and gagged. Ray refuses the whole scheme.
What's really going on
This isn't really about joining an army. Butch and Sundance are out of road, and enlisting is less patriotism than a plea to be allowed back into ordinary life. Ray hears it and refuses to pretend otherwise, telling them plainly, 'It's too late.' He grants them their fame and still cuts it down: they may be the biggest thing ever to hit the area, but they're two-bit outlaws on the dodge. He even takes the sting out by apologising for getting mean in his old age. What makes the moment land is that he isn't wrong — he knows them, likes them, and still tells them the truth about how the world sees them. He is delivering a verdict, not an insult.
Key lines & what they mean
- “They'd throw you in jail for a thousand years each!”
- A blunt way of saying the law will never forgive them: their robberies are worth more prison time than they could ever serve, so enlisting won't wipe the slate clean.
- “See, you may be the biggest thing ever hit this area, but you're still two-bit outlaws!”
- Recognition without respect: they're the most famous men around, and it makes no difference. 'Two-bit' cuts them down to cheap, small-time crooks.
- “Your times is over and you're gonna die bloody! And all you can do is choose where.”
- A death sentence delivered as advice: their era is finished, a violent end is coming, and the only freedom left is picking the ground they die on.
- “I'm sorry. I'm gettin' mean in my old age. Come on! Shut me up, Sundance.”
- He apologises for his harshness, then keeps inviting the fight, daring Sundance to shut him up. The kindness and the cruelty come from the same man, at the same moment.
Theme
- Identity — The pair are famous and still dismissed: fame doesn't change what they are in the eyes of the law.
- Survival — They come asking for a way to live on the right side of the law, and are told the only choice left is where to die.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
Review right after watchingMy level3/6
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“See, you may be the biggest thing ever hit this area, but you're still two-bit outlaws!”
Why it's great
It gives them fame in one breath and strips it to nothing in the next.
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Informal
Use it yourself
You may be the biggest name on campus, but you're still a two-bit cheat.
“Your times is over and you're gonna die bloody! And all you can do is choose where.”
Why it's great
It leaves them one freedom, the place to die, and that is the whole verdict.
Register
literary
Use it yourself
The game is lost, and all you can do is resign.
“I'm sorry. I'm gettin' mean in my old age. Come on! Shut me up, Sundance.”
Why it's great
After the bleak prophecy he backtracks with a self-mocking joke, handing them the gag.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
Sorry, I'm getting mean in my old age. Ignore me.
Monologue
One character carrying the scene — shadow the whole passage❝ Ray's parting verdict
It's too late. Shoulda let yourselves get killed a long time ago while you had the chance. See, you may be the biggest thing ever hit this area, but you're still two-bit outlaws! I never met a soul more affable than you, or faster than the Kid, but you're still nothin' but two-bit outlaws on the dodge. It's over! Don't you get that? Your times is over and you're gonna die bloody! And all you can do is choose where. I'm sorry. I'm gettin' mean in my old age. Come on! Shut me up, Sundance.
Short sentences pile pressure on the two men, then a dry self-mocking line closes it.
Up next · 08the way I figure itThe scene: Butch and Sundance Jump Off a CliffTakeaways
What you walk away with- A warm compliment can be the setup for a harder cut.
- Ray's verdict lands because every sentence gets shorter.
- Two-bit turns fame into small change in one word.
- The scene is a negotiation that was already lost.
People also search
Questions, then the linesWhy do Butch and Sundance stage a fake capture?
To show Ray they can be trusted: if he 'captures' them, it proves they came in on their own and aren't trying to trick him, which makes their offer to enlist easier to sell.
Why does Ray refuse to let them enlist?
He knows the law won't drop the charges against two famous outlaws, whatever the paperwork says. He thinks the offer is a fantasy and says so plainly rather than give them false hope.
What does Ray mean by calling them 'two-bit outlaws'?
It's an insult about status, not wealth: no matter how famous they are, in his eyes they're still small-time criminals on the run, not men a government would take seriously.
Why is Ray so harsh when he clearly likes them?
He calls Sundance affable and fast and still gives him the bad news, because he respects them enough not to lie. His apology for 'gettin' mean' shows the harshness isn't contempt.
Is Ray right that it's too late for them?
He says their times are over and their only choice is where to die. The rest of the film treats that as the truth the pair keep trying to outrun, not a bluff.