Practice How you doin'? with one clear stress group.
- How you doin'? - Hi.Mighty Aphrodite · 1995 — Chapter 14 of 15 · 6'14" · B2
Linda and Kevin's Blind Date, Explained: superfluous
Lenny introduces Linda to Kevin and leaves them to it, announcing that he is "completely superfluous." What follows is a beautifully strange first date: sneezing, a dead pinball champion, and a shared exchange of dreams. "My dream is that somebody would come along and think that I was special" is Linda's.
What happens
Lenny brings Linda and Kevin together for a blind date, then excuses himself. Left alone, the two make awkward small talk about flowers, boxing, and old relationships, including Linda's dead pinball-champion fiancé. They end by trading their dreams, and Kevin asks to see her again.
Listen for
superfluoushung like a horseold-fashioned girlchange my life for me
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Now
Phrase of the scene
superfluous
extra, not needed
The matchmaker writes himself out of the table.
Once they start talking, I am superfluous.
Also in this scene
- hung like a horse
vulgar size talk
- old-fashioned girl
a woman cast as traditional
- change my life for me
someone else rewrites your life
- not for nothing
there's a reason I'm mentioning this
- Me too
same here
Everything marked in this scene
28 notes across 89 lines
doing; how's it going — dropped g; casual greeting
- How you doin'? - Hi."stick around" is useful here.
You know, you could maybe stick around, maybe.Practice you could maybe with one clear stress group.
You know, you could maybe stick around, maybe."go out" is useful here. here: the two of them going out
You know, we could go out or somethin'.something; or whatever — dropped g; vague and casual
You know, we could go out or somethin'."have a great time" is useful here.
You guys can have a great time and I'll-- I got stuff to do, you know.Practice stuff to do with one clear stress group.
You guys can have a great time and I'll-- I got stuff to do, you know.Practice make me sneeze with one clear stress group.
Daisies make me sneeze, Lenny."good luck" is useful here.
That's good luck! It's good luck if you sneeze."Go ahead" is useful here.
- Thanks. - Go ahead, have fun. I'll see you guys."not so bad yourself" is useful here.
- Thanks. You're not so bad yourself. - Yeah, I know.Practice hung like a horse with one clear stress group.
I bet you're hung like a horse.vulgar: well endowed — adult joke; skip it in polite talk
I bet you're hung like a horse.there's a reason I'm mentioning this
The pinball ex is offered as the source of her skill.
Well, I used to date a pinball champ, not for nothing."take care of the house" is useful here.
You know, like, a girl who likes to take care of the house and cook and clean, you know...relative clause: The phrase who likes to take care of the house and cook and clean shapes the meaning of the line.
You know, like, a girl who likes to take care of the house and cook and clean, you know..."that kind of thing" is useful here.
and doesn't mind, you know, walkin' the dogs and, you know, doin' the lawn and that kind of thing.relative clause: The phrase who has a good job, who treats me nice shapes the meaning of the line.
I like a guy who has a good job, who treats me nice and, um--jockstrap / crotch — crude; not for formal talk
Doesn't have to stuff a sock in his jock to look good."all over the world" is useful here.
And then flies me, like, all over the world so I see everything.purpose clause: The phrase so I see everything shapes the meaning of the line.
And then flies me, like, all over the world so I see everything."out of the country" is useful here.
And then, like, he flies me out of the country..."come along" is useful here.
My dream is that somebody would come along and think that I was special,object clause: The phrase that I was special shapes the meaning of the line.
My dream is that somebody would come along and think that I was special,object clause: The phrase that they'd wanna come and change my life for me shapes the meaning of the line.
that, you know-- that they'd wanna come and change my life for me."get to see you again" is useful here.
So, you think, um, I'm gonna get to see you again, Linda, or what?Practice want to with one clear stress group.
Do you want to?Linda and Kevin's Blind Date, explained
What's really going on
The comedy of the scene comes from the fact that neither of these people is performing for the other. Lenny tries to be a matchmaker and immediately removes himself — 'I'm completely superfluous' — which leaves two honest, odd strangers to find out what they have in common. Linda sneezes at the flowers and casually mentions a fiancé who was strangled; Kevin answers the sneeze with 'it's good luck' and talks about wanting a girl like his mother. When they trade dreams, the difference is the point. Kevin imagines being carried off by a hawk, while Linda's wish is smaller and sadder: to be seen as special and to have someone change her life. For once, someone is actually listening to her.
Theme
RomanceA deliberately awkward blind date turns sincere when the two trade dreams instead of flirting, and Kevin asks for a second date.
LonelinessLinda's dream is simply to be thought special, which reveals how alone she has been.
What you'll learn
- Use have a great time to describe enjoyment
- Catch the irony in not for nothing
- Use get to do for an opportunity
- Track jokes that reveal genuine interest
- Notice how "is Linda" changes the exchange.
Listen for
- How you doin'? — Practice How you doin'? with one clear stress group.
- you could maybe — Practice you could maybe with one clear stress group.
- stuff to do — Practice stuff to do with one clear stress group.
- make me sneeze — Practice make me sneeze with one clear stress group.
- I had a really good time with you tonight. - Did you?Kevin's shy version of a compliment and Linda's surprised response: she is not used to being told the evening mattered.
This is Linda. Linda, this is, uh-- This is Kevin.Lenny's nervous introduction that sets up the whole awkward date; his hesitation shows he is unsure he should be doing this.
I had 16 fights and I won them all but 12.Kevin's boxing boast that collapses as you hear it: sixteen fights, twelve losses, which is both funny and a little sad.
Well, we were getting engaged, but then two guys strangled him.Linda's deadpan disclosure about a dead fiancé, delivered as ordinary conversation and confirming how unusual her life has been.
Questions about this scene
Why does Lenny leave the date?
He realizes the two of them should be alone, so he calls himself superfluous and goes, leaving Linda and Kevin to talk without a third person in the room.
Why does Linda sneeze when Kevin gives her flowers?
Daisies make her sneeze, as she tells Lenny. Kevin misreads it and jokes that sneezing is good luck, which becomes an early awkward beat.
What does "hung like a horse" mean?
It is a crude slang compliment about the size of a man's anatomy. Linda says it outright, which shows how blunt she is with a near-stranger.
Who was the pinball champion Linda mentions?
A man she was once engaged to. She says he was strangled by two men, and she tells it as if it were ordinary small talk.
What are Kevin and Linda's dreams?
Kevin imagines a hawk carrying him around the world and leaving him naked in the snow. Linda simply wants someone to come along and think she is special.
Mighty Aphrodite · 15 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 15flew off the handleKevin Blows Up at Lenny
Chapter 1out of left fieldLenny and Amanda Debate a Baby
Chapter 2put my foot downLenny and Amanda Name the Baby
Chapter 3old passionLenny and Amanda's Hamptons Fight
Chapter 4Let sleeping dogs lieLenny Wants to Find Max's Mother
Chapter 5in the ballparkLenny Meets Linda Ash
Chapter 6gone straightLinda Tells Lenny Her Backstory
Chapter 7long shotLenny and Linda at the Races
Chapter 8a hundred percent definiteLinda Reveals She Gave Up a Child
Chapter 9a way with wordsLinda Asks Lenny for a Favor
Chapter 10level with youLenny Negotiates With Ricky
Chapter 11gave up on youLinda Says She's Starting Over
Chapter 12killer instinctLenny Visits the Boxing Gym
Chapter 13drove me up the wallLenny Sets Linda Up With a Farmer
Watching · Chapter 14superfluousLinda and Kevin's Blind Date
Chapter 15flew off the handleKevin Blows Up at LennyChapter 14 of 15 · about 2 min to go