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The Trip · 2011 — Chapter 5 of 20 · 6'15" · B2

Calls on the Road to Cartmel, Explained: put someone on the back foot

Two phone calls cut through the drive to Cartmel. One turns a magazine party into "Does he fancy you?" The next reports that Joe is getting out of hand. Afterward someone admits, "Catherine manages to put me on the back foot from hello," and lunch becomes another round of needling.

What happens

A man answers a call from another time zone, boasts about a magazine launch, then snaps at "Does he fancy you?" In the car toward Cartmel his friend maps the route and jokes about a bedroom summit. A second call says Joe was drinking and will not go to school. At lunch, canapes and a duck-fat lolly turn into a bit about comedy.

Phone callsTeasingTeasingComplainingFriendsB2british
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Listen for

put someone on the back footgo on aboutget out of handfancy someone

00:00 / 06:15
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Phrase of the scene

put someone on the back foot

to put someone at a disadvantage or on the defensive

挂掉电话后，罗布半开玩笑地抱怨凯瑟琳总有本事一开口就 put someone on the back foot，把他逼到下风。

Her first question can put someone on the back foot.

Also in this scene

  • go on about

    to talk about something at tedious length

  • get out of hand

    to become impossible to control

  • fancy someone

    to be attracted to someone

Everything marked in this scene

33 notes across 104 lines

Slang · B2Oh, shitOh, shit. I'm late.
Phrase · A2just got upOh, you just got up?
Phrase · B1have a late nightYeah, I had a really late night.
Phrase · B1get in at a timeI guess I got in at, like, 3:00 or 4:00 maybe.
Soundgot in at

flap

I guess I got in at, like, 3:00 or 4:00 maybe.
Phrase · B2pitch an ideaI thought it'd be a good place to go and meet some people and pitch some of my ideas, and it was really good.
Phrase · A2be interested in somethingI met the, um, the editor of Esquire, and he, uh, he's interested in the story I did about the bikers when I went back home.
Phrase · B1fancy someone

to be attracted to someone

Does he fancy you?
Soundfancy you

liaison

Does he fancy you?
Slang · B2fancyDoes he fancy you?
Phrase · B2piss someone offThat really pisses me off when you do that like I've got nothing else to offer.
Phrase · B2have nothing else to offerThat really pisses me off when you do that like I've got nothing else to offer.
Grammar · B1when you do that

when-clause for habitual events

That really pisses me off when you do that like I've got nothing else to offer.
Slang · B2Whatever- I'm not saying... - Whatever.
Phrase · A2have got to goListen, listen, I've got to go.
Phrase · A2miss someoneOkay. Hey, uh, uh, well, I miss you.
Phrase · A2speak laterListen, well, let's just speak later, okay?
Phrase · B1get on at a junctionget on the M6 at junction 33, then off at junction 36 a bit further up,
Phrase · B2cement relationsDid you cement Anglo-Polish relations?
Phrase · B2go into detailI won't go into detail, but there were more than talks about talks.
Phrase · B2go as far as to say ...In fact, I'd go as far as to say there was an historic accord.
Phrase · B2go on about something

to talk about something at tedious length

That's Wordsworth, I think, going on about the French Revolution.
Phrase · B2get out of hand

to become impossible to control

He's getting a bit out of hand.
Phrase · B1at the momentSo I need you to talk to him, because he just doesn't listen to me at the moment.
Phrase · B2be none of someone's businessWell, it's none of my business, but I thought she was very unreasonable.
Phrase · C1put someone on the back foot

to put someone at a disadvantage or on the defensive

Catherine manages to put me on the back foot from "hello."
Grammar · B2manages to put me

manage to do

Catherine manages to put me on the back foot from "hello."
Phrase · B1to begin withThere we have some little canapes to begin with with a duet of tapioca-based crackers, spiced popcorn,
Phrase · B1be made out of somethingand the lollipops are made out of duck fat with peanuts.
Grammar · B1isn't it

tag question

That's a big piece of popcorn, isn't it?
Phrase · B2there's something ... about somethingbut there's something very different about it.
Grammar · B2which is made out of ginger beer

relative clause with which

We've got the liqueur made out of the mallow leaves topped with a fizz which is made out of ginger beer
SoundTastes of a

liaison

Tastes of a childhood garden.

Calls on the Road to Cartmel, explained

What's really going on

Two calls catch the same man off balance. He sells a magazine launch as networking, naming the editor of Esquire and a biker story, until the other person asks, "Does he fancy you?" The snap back, "like I've got nothing else to offer," shows what the brag was for. On the road his friend turns the night into diplomacy: "I'd go as far as to say there was an historic accord." Joe's call will not play along. "He's getting a bit out of hand" comes with drinking, a worried parent, and a refusal to go to school. "I will do that today" is promised twice, then a question about Mimi is cut off with "I've got to go." "Catherine manages to put me on the back foot from hello" is the verdict: he lost at the greeting. Lunch is the retreat. A duck-fat lolly "is just like my comedy," and "Tastes of a childhood garden" is immediately undercut.

Theme

ParenthoodA roadside call says Joe was drinking, another parent is worried, and he will not go to school. He promises twice to talk to him today.
SatireA night out becomes a bedroom summit and an historic accord, and a duck-fat lolly is treated as a portrait of his comedy.

What you'll learn

  • Use pisses me off to defend your work
  • Hear on the back foot as losing stance
  • At the moment as a present stretch

Listen for

  • got in at — flap
  • fancy you — liaison
  • Tastes of a — liaison
"What joy it was to be alive, but to be young was very heaven."

The line is used for a night just described as a bedroom summit. The speaker calls it Wordsworth on the French Revolution, then notes the poet was younger then, before the daffodils.

Well, it's none of my business, but I thought she was very unreasonable.

Said right after the call about Joe, it pretends to stay out of the row while still calling her unreasonable. The disclaimer is the jab.

Was there a lot of alcohol in your garden as a child?

A straight puncture of "Tastes of a childhood garden." The drink has alcohol in it, so the pretty memory gets asked whether the garden was full of booze.

That really pisses me off when you do that like I've got nothing else to offer.

The reply to "Does he fancy you?" He hears the question as a claim that charm is all he has, and the magazine story was supposed to prove otherwise.

I won't go into detail, but there were more than talks about talks.

He refuses the details of the night and upgrades them anyway, from talks about talks to something that already happened. The boast wears diplomatic language.

Questions about this scene

Why does the question about the editor make him angry?

He has just framed the magazine launch as work: a place to meet people, pitch ideas, and interest the editor of Esquire in a story about bikers. "Does he fancy you?" drops all of that and treats the night as someone wanting him. He answers that it sounds like he has nothing else to offer.

What is the historic accord in the bedroom?

A boast told as diplomacy. Asked if he cemented Anglo-Polish relations, he says there was a summit in his bedroom, skips the details, and claims it was "more than talks about talks" and then "an historic accord." No plainer account is given.

Why is he asked to talk to Joe?

Joe was drinking the night before. A friend's parent has already called, worried about his behavior at their house. He has been ill in the morning and will not go to school, and the caller says Joe will not listen to her. He agrees twice to talk to him today, asks about Mimi, and is cut off.

Why does he say Catherine puts him on the back foot from hello?

The line comes straight after the Joe call. He was given a list of problems and a job to do, and "How's Mimi?" was met with "I've got to go." On the back foot from hello means he was behind before he could give his own version. Another line calls her very unreasonable and then calls the effect an extraordinary skill.

The Trip · 20 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 6the king of understatementBond Impressions Over Dinner
Chapter 1have someone down asSteve and Rob Set OffChapter 2part of its charmSteve and Rob Share a RoomChapter 3take a long, hard look in the mirrorThe Michael Caine Impression DuelChapter 4in a troughSteve Calls From the TroughWatching · Chapter 5put someone on the back footCalls on the Road to CartmelChapter 6the king of understatementBond Impressions Over DinnerChapter 7living the dreamTelling Steve He's Living the DreamChapter 8method in my madnessSteve and Rob at Greta HallChapter 9contend withSteve and Rob Rank Their CareersChapter 10not unlikeTurned Away at Dove CottageChapter 11at first lightSteve and Rob's Costume DramaChapter 12not a lot of people knowThe Michael Caine ImpressionsChapter 13Cut to the chaseSteve Takes His Agent's CallChapter 14don't come running to meShushed on the B RoadsChapter 15a wee bitA Phone Call by the LakeChapter 16an albatross around my neckCoogan and Brydon Compare CareersChapter 17as empty experiences goDad Phones Joe About DrinkingChapter 18stick the knife inMock Eulogy at the GraveChapter 19if push came to shoveHiring Divers for the GestureChapter 20as broad as it's longSteve Leaves His Parents
Chapter 5 of 20 · about 77 min to go