WinkLingo
ログイン

Clue · 1985 — 第 1 / 17 章 · 3'03" · B1

Mrs. Peacock Breaks the Ice, Explained：break the ice

Mrs. Peacock tries to get the evening talking, but every polite remark is a probe. "I know who you are," one guest says, and suddenly the small talk is about who is hiding what. The ice breaks; the secrets start to leak.

あらすじ

At a mansion dinner party, a group of strangers meet for the first time. Mrs. Peacock, used to playing hostess, volunteers to break the ice and start the ball rolling. As the guests trade questions about their work and where they live, small talk turns into quiet probing of who each of them really is.

Small talkPartiesTeasingConfrontingStrangersB1fastamericanClean
IMDb ↗

注目の表現

break the icestart the ball rollingheavens to Betsypressure of speech

00:00 / 03:03
Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
  1. ❝ 独白Mrs. Peacock breaks the ice5 行練習ページ ↗
セリフをタップするとそこから再生

このシーンの表現

break the ice

end an awkward silence

At the first dinner, six strangers sit in silence until Mrs. Peacock steps in and speaks first.

Let me break the ice with a quick question.

このシーンの他の表現

  • start the ball rolling

    get something started

  • heavens to Betsy

    an old exclamation of surprise

  • pressure of speech

    a clinical term for rapid, driven speech

  • sounds like

    a mock-serious put-down

  • practice makes perfect

    a proverb with a suggestive twist

このシーンのメモ一覧

55 行のセリフに 22 件のメモ

表現 · B1break the ice

end an awkward silence

At the first dinner, six strangers sit in silence until Mrs. Peacock steps in and speaks first.

Well, someone's got to break the ice and it might as well be me.
表現 · B1might as well do something

no better option than

Well, someone's got to break the ice and it might as well be me.
発音might as well

Link might as well into one smooth run rather than three words.

Well, someone's got to break the ice and it might as well be me.
表現 · B1be used to doing something

be accustomed to

I mean, I'm used to being a hostess. It's part of my husband's work.
表現 · A2part of something

a piece of something

I mean, I'm used to being a hostess. It's part of my husband's work.
表現 · A2for the first time

on the first occasion

And It's always difficult when a group of new friends meet together for the first time to get acquainted.
表現 · B1get acquainted with someone

get to know each other

And It's always difficult when a group of new friends meet together for the first time to get acquainted.
表現 · B2start the ball rolling

get something started

Mrs. Peacock offers to speak first so the other guests will follow her lead.

So, I'm perfectly prepared to start the ball rolling.
表現 · B2an integral part of something

an essential piece

Yes, it's an integral part of your life when you're the wife of a...
文法 · B1we're not supposed to say

be supposed to: Be supposed to marks what is expected; the negative turns it into a rule worth questioning.

But then I forgot, we're not supposed to say who we really are, though heavens to Betsy I don't know why.
発音Aren't you

The t meets y so Aren't you can sound like aren-choo.

Aren't you gonna tell us?
スラング · A2gonna

going to — Spoken shorthand; keep it out of writing.

Aren't you gonna tell us?
発音do you

In fast speech do you can blur into d'you.

How do you know who I am?
表現 · B1lie around

lounge about idly

Well, he just lies around on his back all day.
表現 · B2be accident-prone

likely to have accidents

I'm afraid I'm a little bit accident-prone.
表現 · B1keep something going

sustain the talk

But if I wasn't trying to keep the conversation going, then we would just be sitting here in an embarrassed silence.
文法 · B2if I wasn't trying

counterfactual if: A counterfactual if-clause with would describes what would happen instead.

But if I wasn't trying to keep the conversation going, then we would just be sitting here in an embarrassed silence.
表現 · B1suffer from something

be afflicted by

Just seems to me that you are. You seem to suffer from what we call "pressure of speech".
スラング · B2shrink

slang for a psychiatrist — Casual and slightly dismissive; too loose for formal talk.

"We"? Who's "we"? Are you a shrink?
スラング · B1Jesus

an exclamation of exasperation — A common exclamation, but avoid it in formal or devout company.

Another politician. Jesus!
表現 · B1a branch of something

a division of

No, I work for a branch of UNO. WHO, the World Health Organization.
文法 · B2the coincidence that you also live

appositive clause: The that-clause spells out what the coincidence actually is.

You're not gonna mention the coincidence that you also live in Washington, D.C.?

「Mrs. Peacock Breaks the Ice」を読み解く

What's really going on

The scene looks like etiquette, but it runs on suspicion. Everyone has been told not to reveal who they are, so introductions become a game of extraction: one guest announces, "I know who you are," and another presses, "Aren't you gonna tell us?" Mrs. Peacock cannot stop talking, which lets Professor Plum diagnose her with "pressure of speech" — a joke that is also a threat, since it quietly establishes that he is a doctor and can read people. Her hostess chatter is armor; his clinical calm is a flex. Even the harmless "Practice makes perfect" lands as innuendo. Under the manners, each guest is measuring the others and deciding how much to give away.

Theme

IdentityGuests are told to hide who they are, so the party becomes a contest of guessing and half-revealing identities.
SecretsPolite small talk doubles as interrogation, as each guest probes what the others are hiding.

このチャプターで学べること

  • Polite small talk here doubles as an interrogation.
  • Breaking the ice can also mean taking the blame.
  • The shortest answers are the ones hiding something.
  • Clinical words can wound more than plain insults.

発音のポイント

  • might as well — Link might as well into one smooth run rather than three words.
  • Aren't you — The t meets y so Aren't you can sound like aren-choo.
  • do you — In fast speech do you can blur into d'you.
Well, someone's got to break the ice and it might as well be me.

Mrs. Peacock volunteers to open the evening's conversation, offering herself as the one to get these strangers talking.

But then I forgot, we're not supposed to say who we really are, though heavens to Betsy I don't know why.

Her slip reveals the house rule: no one may state their real name. The mock-scandal of 'heavens to Betsy' keeps it light while flagging the secrecy.

But if I wasn't trying to keep the conversation going, then we would just be sitting here in an embarrassed silence.

She defends her chatter as a kindness — without it, the room would sit in awkward silence — while revealing her fear of exactly that.

I mean, I have absolutely no idea what we're doing here or what I'm doing here or what this place is about, but I am determined to enjoy myself.

For all her forced cheer, she admits total ignorance of why they are gathered, then chooses to enjoy it anyway — denial dressed as good manners.

このシーンについての質問

Why won't the guests say who they are?

They were invited under a condition of secrecy, so no one may simply introduce themselves. The joke is that everyone already knows more than they admit, which keeps turning polite small talk into quiet interrogation.

What does 'pressure of speech' mean?

It is a clinical phrase for talking too much and too fast, as if you cannot stop yourself. Professor Plum uses it on Mrs. Peacock as much to show his expertise as to needle her.

Is Professor Plum really a doctor?

Yes. He says he knows psychological medicine, calls himself a doctor, and adds that he doesn't practice. Later he says he works for a branch of the United Nations, the World Health Organization.

Why does Mrs. Peacock talk so much?

She says she is used to being a hostess and cannot bear an awkward silence. Her chatter fills the pauses, but it also gives the others something to read her by.

Why is everyone in Washington connected?

The guests discover they share the same city, and the coincidence only grows as the night goes on. It is the first hint that none of them ended up at this house by accident.

殺人ゲームへの招待 · 全 17 章

すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 2 章over my dead bodyGuests Arrive at the Mansion
再生中 · 第 1 章break the iceMrs. Peacock Breaks the Ice第 2 章over my dead bodyGuests Arrive at the Mansion第 3 章in the same boatWadsworth Reveals the Blackmail第 4 章behind barsBoddy Is the Blackmailer第 5 章over his dead bodyMr. Boddy Is Found Dead第 6 章preyed on my mindWadsworth Explains Why He Gathered Them第 7 章defence mechanismMr. Boddy's Body Disappears第 8 章overkillLocking Up the Weapons第 9 章make an omeletWadsworth Won't Say Yes or No第 10 章a likely storyTrapped in the Secret Passage第 11 章nothing to hideUnexpected Guest Asks to Use the Phone第 12 章step by stepWadsworth Reconstructs the Evening第 13 章get your hands onWadsworth Reveals the Secret Passage第 14 章hold something over someoneWadsworth's Black Market Confession第 15 章whistling DixieWadsworth Recaps the Murders第 16 章a red herringWadsworth Reveals He's the Killer第 17 章fatal mistakeWadsworth Counts the Last Bullet
第 1 / 17 章 · 残り約 46 分