superlative plus that-clause
The most important thing to me is that I have...The Trip · 2011 — Chapter 19 of 20 · 4'50" · B2
Hiring Divers for the Gesture, Explained: if push came to shove
Something has gone into a river, and the talk is about whether to get it back. Scuba divers are offered in the same breath as a shrug: the gesture matters more than the rescue. "No, the family's more important." An East End boast, a week of putting up with it, and a strong cup of tea sit beside that choice.
What happens
Someone talks through a loss in a river: if push came to shove, scuba divers could retrieve whatever went in, but the gesture is what matters. Family is called the more important thing. A childhood in the East End is set against someone else's start, someone has put up with this all week, and a cup of tea is called a substantial brew after Four Weddings and a Funeral.
Listen for
put something in perspectiveif push came to shoveblow the doors offa substantial brew
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Phrase of the scene
if push came to shove
if the situation becomes truly serious
史蒂夫半开玩笑地论证自己会为家庭放弃奖项，说真到了那一步，他还能雇潜水队把奖杯捞回来。
If push comes to shove, we can sell the car.
Also in this scene
- put something in perspective
to make you see what really matters
- blow the doors off
to do something with explosive, irrepressible energy
- a substantial brew
a strong, hearty cup of tea
Everything marked in this scene
34 notes across 103 lines
That's more important than any work, any award, anything like that.comparative with than
That's more important than any work, any award, anything like that.to make you see what really matters
That actually puts everything in perspective.liaison
That actually puts everything in perspective.If you could exchange them for knowing your children would live a happy, long...if the situation becomes truly serious
a river, if push came to shove, I could hire a team of scuba divers to retrieve them, but, you know, the gesture is the important thing.I mean, if it was a choice between winning an award and my child being healthy,an illness the child would recover from but would have some discomfort.preposition stranding
an illness the child would recover from but would have some discomfort.Let me up the stakes.Meanwhile, "Academy Award winner, Steve Coogan."Ah, now we glimpse the real man.I'm thinking about it. I was thinking it through.Lovely place to grow up, you know?This is Bernard, me dad. This is Rob.Rob Brydon off the telly.Ooh, and a daughter. She's a bonnie lass.Well, on occasions.Crikey. Crikey. Crikey. Gosh. This is excellent.a strong, hearty cup of tea
I've been to Four Weddings and a Funeral recently, and I've not had, gosh, quite such a substantial brew.Quit while you're ahead, you know?weak form
Quit while you're ahead, you know?Yeah, you were always the quiet one, weren't you?Well, I was in my own little world, you know, sort of, you know, escape.I used to daydream constantly as a kid, you know,used to for past habits
I used to daydream constantly as a kid, you know,I was quite withdrawn also.to do something with explosive, irrepressible energy
I, on the other hand, grew up in the East End of London, and all I ever wanted to do was blow the bloody doors off.pseudo-cleft with all
I, on the other hand, grew up in the East End of London, and all I ever wanted to do was blow the bloody doors off.I've had to put up with this all week.liaison
I've had to put up with this all week.Listen, why don't you stop for lunch?Well, we should push on, really.Hiring Divers for the Gesture, explained
What's really going on
The river offer is a boast that cancels itself. Scuba divers could retrieve whatever went in, "if push came to shove," but the same breath says the gesture is the important thing. Being seen to care is the point. "No, the family's more important" refuses the bigger show and picks the smaller loyalty. "That actually puts everything in perspective" is the verdict: the divers, the loss, and the family have been resized, and family wins. The East End line pushes the other direction. "I, on the other hand, grew up in the East End of London, and all I ever wanted to do was blow the bloody doors off." That is appetite, not a plan. Beside it sits "I've had to put up with this all week." Four Weddings and a Funeral did not produce "quite such a substantial brew." Grand claims keep shrinking into a gesture, a family, or a strong brew, and nobody has to settle which one matters most.
Theme
Family loveA offered river rescue is waved aside with "No, the family's more important," so the stunt shrinks to a gesture.
PrideWanting to blow the doors off, and hiring divers that may never be used, are both shows of appetite.
What you'll learn
- If push came to shove as a last resort
- Up the stakes as raising the bet
- Quit while you're ahead as a stop rule
Listen for
- puts everything in perspective — liaison
- Quit while you're ahead — weak form
- put up with — liaison
I, on the other hand, grew up in the East End of London, and all I ever wanted to do was blow the bloody doors off.A self-portrait in this talk: an East End childhood remembered as a hunger to make a huge noise, not to stay quiet.
No, the family's more important.Said against a bigger offer. Family, not the gesture or the spectacle, is what should win.
I've had to put up with this all week.A plain complaint that whatever "this" is has already lasted the whole week.
I've been to Four Weddings and a Funeral recently, and I've not had, gosh, quite such a substantial brew.The film is only the setup. The surprise is the tea: even a recent Four Weddings did not match this cup.
Questions about this scene
Why bring up a team of scuba divers at all?
The speaker says the divers could retrieve what went into the river if push came to shove, and in the same breath adds that the gesture is the important thing. The team is the size of the offer. Actually going in the water is beside the point.
What does "blow the bloody doors off" mean here?
It is the life the speaker claims to have wanted: not a quiet path, but an East End appetite for a huge smash. In this conversation it works as a self-portrait and a boast, not as a plan to damage a door.
Why does someone say the family is more important?
It closes a choice. Set beside the river gesture and the line about perspective, it refuses the grander performance and names family as the thing that should reset the scale.
Why compare the tea with Four Weddings and a Funeral?
A recent viewing of that film is the benchmark, and the cup still wins. The joke treats a substantial brew as more memorable than a famous night out, which shrinks the talk down to something you can actually taste.
The Trip · 20 chapters
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Up next · Chapter 20as broad as it's longSteve Leaves His Parents
Chapter 1have someone down asSteve and Rob Set Off
Chapter 2part of its charmSteve and Rob Share a Room
Chapter 3take a long, hard look in the mirrorThe Michael Caine Impression Duel
Chapter 4in a troughSteve Calls From the Trough
Chapter 5put someone on the back footCalls on the Road to Cartmel
Chapter 6the king of understatementBond Impressions Over Dinner
Chapter 7living the dreamTelling Steve He's Living the Dream
Chapter 8method in my madnessSteve and Rob at Greta Hall
Chapter 9contend withSteve and Rob Rank Their Careers
Chapter 10not unlikeTurned Away at Dove Cottage
Chapter 11at first lightSteve and Rob's Costume Drama
Chapter 12not a lot of people knowThe Michael Caine Impressions
Chapter 13Cut to the chaseSteve Takes His Agent's Call
Chapter 14don't come running to meShushed on the B Roads
Chapter 15a wee bitA Phone Call by the Lake
Chapter 16an albatross around my neckCoogan and Brydon Compare Careers
Chapter 17as empty experiences goDad Phones Joe About Drinking
Chapter 18stick the knife inMock Eulogy at the Grave
Watching · Chapter 19if push came to shoveHiring Divers for the Gesture
Chapter 20as broad as it's longSteve Leaves His ParentsChapter 19 of 20 · about 4 min to go