a joke hidden in this
I suppose there's a joke in there somewhere, but I don't get it.The Man from Earth · 2007 — Capítulo 3 de 10 · 2'06" · B2
Not a Day Over 900, Explained: a day over
The group is joking about a caveman who survived into the present. Then someone says John just confided he is 14,000, and the reply lands: "Oh, John, you don't look a day over 900." The laugh holds the story off, until talk turns to moving on every ten years and a tribe that chased him away for staying young.
Qué pasa
A small group talks with John about a caveman who lived into the present. Someone reports that John just confided he is 14,000 years old, and a reply says he does not look a day over 900. Asked for the punch line, the story goes on: every ten years he moves on, and in a first lifetime his people chased him away for stealing their lives to stay young.
Atento a
nothing to getlearned to learnconfideda day over
00:00 / 02:06Espacio reproducir · ← → frases · R repetir
Ahora
Expresión de la escena
a day over
looks no older than this age
Right after the fourteen-thousand-year claim, someone flatters his face with an absurd nine hundred.
After the hike, you don't look a day over thirty.
También en esta escena
- nothing to get
There is no joke to understand
- learned to learn
learned the skill of learning itself
- confided
told someone a private secret
- punch line
the joke's final twist
- move on
leave and start over elsewhere
Todo lo marcado en esta escena
32 notas en 40 frases
understand the joke
I suppose there's a joke in there somewhere, but I don't get it.Let the t between get and it stay light.
I suppose there's a joke in there somewhere, but I don't get it.There is no joke to understand
Someone who missed the joke gets a flat reply that deletes the joke instead of explaining it.
There's nothing to get.Press nothing, then let to get fall away.
There's nothing to get.the subject being discussed
We were just talking about a caveman who survives until the present time.relative clause: who limits caveman to one who is still alive now.
We were just talking about a caveman who survives until the present time.learned the skill of learning itself
The long survival is answered as a chance that only counted after learning how to learn.
As you said, what a chance to learn, once I learned to learn.When what meets a, the t is a quick tongue tap.
As you said, what a chance to learn, once I learned to learn.work it out yourself Not a puzzle: deduce the survival premise.
Figure it out.privately revealed that
John just confided that he's 14,000 years old.looks no older than this age
Right after the fourteen-thousand-year claim, someone flatters his face with an absurd nine hundred.
Oh, John, you don't look a day over 900.Keep a tiny and slide straight into day.
Oh, John, you don't look a day over 900.go along with your premise game means the caveman premise, not a board game.
All right, Spock, I'll play your little game.the joke's final twist
He agrees to play along and then demands the joke's last line, as if the age were only setup.
What do you want? What's the punch line?leave and start over elsewhere
While others wait for a laugh, he states a rule for leaving once people notice he does not age.
Every ten years or so, when people start to notice I don't age, I move on.time clause: when sets the moment, and notice takes I don't age as what is seen.
Every ten years or so, when people start to notice I don't age, I move on.when you finish it done means finishing the tale, not leaving work.
I wanna read that story when you're done.The to inside want to is already gone in wanna.
I wanna read that story when you're done.want to — Fine with friends; avoid it in formal writing.
I wanna read that story when you're done.my strongest estimate
That's my best guess, based on archaeological data, maps, anthropological research.participial phrase: based on adds the evidence onto guess instead of starting a new sentence.
That's my best guess, based on archaeological data, maps, anthropological research.that span without a gap straight means unbroken time, not a straight line.
Since Mesopotamia, I've got the last... 4,000 years straight.further along than most
You're ahead of most people, so please, go on.keep the account short
Well, you know the background stuff, so I'll make it brief.unspecified things — Casual talk only; it sounds vague in a report.
Well, you know the background stuff, so I'll make it brief.nominal clause: what turns the name he uses into the time phrase after in.
In what I call my first lifetime, I aged to about 35...finally became this
I ended up leading my group.fight for that thing
I didn't even have to fight for it.taking other people's years
After telling how fear drove him out, he gives their reason: his youth was taken from their lives.
They thought that I was stealing their lives away to stay young.object clause: that gives what they thought; to stay young is the purpose they assumed.
They thought that I was stealing their lives away to stay young.where it began before history
The prehistoric origin of the vampire myth.Not a Day Over 900, explicado
What's really going on
The riddle snaps shut when someone announces, "John just confided that he's 14,000 years old." They keep it a bit. "Oh, John, you don't look a day over 900" is the laugh that lets everyone stay comfortable, and "What's the punch line?" asks when the joke will end. It does not end. A flat account follows: every ten years or so, once people notice he does not age, he moves on. He calls Cro-Magnon his best guess from archaeological data, maps, and anthropological research, and says the last 4,000 years, since Mesopotamia, line up. Then the story darkens without raising its voice. In a first lifetime he aged to about 35, led a group that saw him as magical, and did not even have to fight for it. Fear came and they chased him away. "They thought that I was stealing their lives away to stay young." Someone calls that the prehistoric origin of the vampire myth, and "That is good!" still sounds like praise for a story.
Theme
IdentitySomeone reports that John confided he is 14,000, and the talk then fills in a first lifetime, a tribe, and a habit of moving on.
Dark humorThe age claim meets "you don't look a day over 900," and someone still asks for the punch line as a tribe's fear gets told like a joke.
Escucha con atención
- don't get it — Let the t between get and it stay light.
- nothing to get — Press nothing, then let to get fall away.
- what a chance — When what meets a, the t is a quick tongue tap.
- a day over — Keep a tiny and slide straight into day.
I suppose there's a joke in there somewhere, but I don't get it.After "Look around," the speaker senses a joke hidden in the talk but cannot find it.
As you said, what a chance to learn, once I learned to learn.It grants the other person's point: surviving into the present was a great chance to learn, but only after the speaker had learned how to learn.
Oh, John, you don't look a day over 900.A joke to John, spoken right after the line that he confided he is 14,000: he looks no older than 900. The number is treated as a gag.
Every ten years or so, when people start to notice I don't age, I move on.The speaker's habit: about every ten years, once people notice he does not age, he leaves and starts over somewhere else.
I didn't even have to fight for it.In that first lifetime he ended up leading the group because they saw him as magical, so the position came without a fight.
They thought that I was stealing their lives away to stay young.Why they chased him away: they believed he was taking their years so that he could stay young. The next line names the vampire myth.
Preguntas sobre esta escena
Why does someone say John does not look a day over 900?
Someone has just said, "John just confided that he's 14,000 years old." The next line, "Oh, John, you don't look a day over 900," jokes that he looks no older than 900.
Why does the story say he moves on every ten years?
One line states it outright: "Every ten years or so, when people start to notice I don't age, I move on." The move happens when people start to notice he does not age.
Why did his people chase him away?
The account says fear came and they chased him away. The reason is in the next line: "They thought that I was stealing their lives away to stay young."
Does anyone here accept that John is 14,000?
These lines never settle it. Someone asks, "Did you start the whiskey before we got here?" Someone says, "Pretend it's science fiction." Someone offers, "All right, Spock, I'll play your little game," and asks, "What's the punch line?" Another line wants to read the story when it is done.
Why call this the prehistoric origin of the vampire myth?
The speaker has just said the group thought he was stealing their lives away to stay young. The next line names that idea: "The prehistoric origin of the vampire myth."
El hombre de la tierra · 10 capítulos
Todos los capítulos →
Siguiente · Capítulo 4almost wish it were trueNever Told the Buddha
Capítulo 1itchy feetJohn Oldman's Farewell Toast
Capítulo 2pan outJohn's Caveman Hypothetical
Viendo · Capítulo 3a day overNot a Day Over 900
Capítulo 4almost wish it were trueNever Told the Buddha
Capítulo 5no way to disproveNo Way to Disprove John's Story
Capítulo 6survivor's guiltJohn on Dying and Survivor's Guilt
Capítulo 7on the ropesWill's Wife Just Died
Capítulo 8no need of that hypothesisPressing John About the Bible
Capítulo 9the jury is still outSo You Were Jesus
Capítulo 10If I said noJohn Won't Confirm He Was JesusCapítulo 3 de 10 · quedan unos 25 min