“Read my lips. Don't come to Sal's no more.”
Why it's great
A blunt command with a dare built in, impossible to miss or talk around.
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Informal
Use it yourself
Read my lips — you are not borrowing my car again.
00:00 / 02:13
00:00 / 02:13
Mookie Bans Jade from Sal's, Explained
Do the Right Thing · 1989
Chapter 14 of 20 · 2'13"
Mookie tells his sister Jade she can't come to Sal's anymore, insisting Sal has the wrong intentions toward her. Jade refuses to be managed by her brother. "You can hardly pay your rent and you're gonna tell me what to do?"
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:42–1:17
Mookie Bans Jade from Sal's Pizzeria
35s - 1:38–2:11
Jade Throws Mookie's Words Back at Him
33s
Mookie Bans Jade from Sal's, explained
What happens
At Sal's pizzeria, Mookie corners his sister Jade and forbids her from coming back, saying Sal's interest in her is not innocent. Jade pushes back hard, calling him a hypocrite who cannot pay his own rent, and he answers by saying he is tired of supporting a grown woman.
What's really going on
Mookie is trying to protect his sister from a man he does not trust, but he has no standing to give orders, and Jade knows it. His warning is blunt: "Look, all Sal wants to do is hide the salami." Jade's reply is not about Sal at all; it is about Mookie's authority, and she dismantles it with his own failures: "You can hardly pay your rent and you're gonna tell me what to do?" The argument is really about who has the right to tell the other how to live, and each one uses the other's failures as evidence. Mookie keeps a petty last word, banning pizza as well as the store, while admitting he is tired of carrying her. Under the insults, a brother wants to be needed and a sister wants to be treated as an adult.
Key lines & what they mean
- “Read my lips. Don't come to Sal's no more.”
- Mookie's blunt order to Jade, phrased as a final warning: he wants her to stay away from Sal's, and he does not want to argue about it.
- “You can hardly pay your rent and you're gonna tell me what to do?”
- Jade's counterattack: since Mookie cannot support himself, he has no authority to boss her around, so his warning loses its force.
- “I'm tired of supporting a grown man, okay?”
- Jade throws Mookie's own complaint back at him, saying she is the one who has been carrying a grown adult, not the other way around.
- “If you're saying what I'm thinking you're saying, you better not say it because I don't wanna hear it.”
- A pre-emptive brush-off: rather than let Mookie finish a suspicion, the speaker makes clear that whatever accusation is coming will not be heard.
Theme
- Family conflict — A brother and sister fight not over Sal but over who has the right to run the other's life.
- Money — Jade wins the argument by pointing at Mookie's poverty, using the rent he cannot pay to deny his authority over her.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
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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“You can hardly pay your rent and you're gonna tell me what to do?”
Why it's great
It turns the other person's weakness into the argument, so the comeback needs no insult.
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Informal
Use it yourself
You can hardly finish your own work and you're gonna tell me how to do mine?
“I'm tired of supporting a grown man, okay?”
Why it's great
It flips money and dependence into an accusation, quiet but cutting.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
I'm tired of paying for everything, okay?
“If you're saying what I'm thinking you're saying, you better not say it because I don't wanna hear it.”
Why it's great
She closes the door before the sentence arrives: if you're saying what I think, don't, because I don't wanna hear it. A preemptive veto.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
If you're saying what I think you're saying, stop right there.
Up next · 15must be buggingThe scene: Mookie Delivers Pizza to TinaTakeaways
What you walk away with- Read my lips turns a request into a final order.
- Come off it rejects an idea before arguing it.
- Got a lot of nerve quietly calls someone shameless.
- Make a move can mean leaving, not romance.
People also search
Questions, then the linesWhy does Mookie want Jade to stop coming to Sal's?
He believes Sal is interested in her for the wrong reasons. His warning is crude but direct: he says all Sal wants to do is hide the salami, implying Sal's kindness is not innocent.
Was Jade right to dismiss Mookie's warning?
She may be right that she is a grown woman, but she answers his concern about Sal only by attacking his authority. The scene leaves open whether she is being naive or simply refusing to be controlled.
What does "hide the salami" mean?
It is slang for wanting to have sex. When Mookie says all Sal wants to do is hide the salami, he is accusing Sal of having sexual intentions toward Jade.
Why does Jade tell Mookie to stop playing big brother?
She means he is acting like an authority over her just because he is the older sibling. She tells him to quit pretending he has a say in her life.
How does the argument end?
It does not really resolve. Mookie keeps insisting Jade stay away and adds a petty rule about pizza, while Jade walks off saying she will be back, and Sal later refuses to hear Mookie out.