hard to deal with
She calls her husband hard to deal with, half warning Neff off.
You could try, but he's pretty tough-going.Double Indemnity · 1944 — 第 5 / 21 章 · 2'23" · B2
Phyllis Proposes Killing Her Husband, Explained：knock someone off
A bored wife asks her insurance salesman whether she can take out an accident policy on her husband without his knowledge — and without the company knowing he doesn't know. "That's the setup, isn't it?" she asks. What sounds like paperwork is a proposal, and both of them know it.
あらすじ
Insurance salesman Walter Neff visits the Dietrichson house, where Phyllis complains that she and her husband sit in silence all evening. She then asks whether she can buy an accident policy on her husband without bothering him — paying with her own allowance so he never learns. Neff spells out the scheme, and the conversation slides toward murder.
注目の表現
tough-goingyou mean ...on its owncrown block
00:00 / 02:23Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
このシーンの表現
knock someone off
kill someone
Neff puts the crime into street slang, and she recoils from the word.
The hitman was paid to knock off the witness.
このシーンの他の表現
- tough-going
hard to deal with
- you mean ...
so you're saying
- on its own
without help
- crown block
derrick pulley assembly
- get away with it
escape blame or punishment
このシーンのメモ一覧
49 行のセリフに 20 件のメモ
hard to handle — Informal label for someone difficult.
You could try, but he's pretty tough-going.stay completely silent
Sometimes we sit here all evening and never say a word to each other.coordinated negation: The and never clause extends the silence across the whole evening.
Sometimes we sit here all evening and never say a word to each other.marry for a reason
Is that what you married him for?you can be certain
Wouldn't I? You bet your life, you wouldn't.Stress bet and life to make the promise land.
Wouldn't I? You bet your life, you wouldn't.you can bet on it — A confident, informal way to promise or agree.
Wouldn't I? You bet your life, you wouldn't.make things simpler
It would make it easier for you, too. You wouldn't even have to talk to him.the anxiety ends
If there was a way to get it like that, all the worry would be over.hypothetical conditional: Past tense in the if-clause plus would marks a wishful hypothesis.
If there was a way to get it like that, all the worry would be over.follow my point
See what I mean, Walter? Sure. I got good eyesight.without help
Neff personifies the crown block so 'a little help' can mean murder.
Only sometimes it can't quite make it on its own, it has to have a little help.reverse into someone
It can be a car backing over him, or he could fall out of the upstairs window.a fatal outcome
Any little thing like that, just so it's a morgue job.a fatal hit — Bleak underworld phrasing for a death.
Any little thing like that, just so it's a morgue job.escape blame or punishment
Neff tells her plainly that her scheme will not stay hidden.
Look, baby, you can't get away with it.Blend get away and keep with it light.
Look, baby, you can't get away with it.kill someone
Neff puts the crime into street slang, and she recoils from the word.
You want to knock him off, don't you?kill, bump off — Crime slang; never use it in polite or formal talk.
You want to knock him off, don't you?「Phyllis Proposes Killing Her Husband」を読み解く
What's really going on
The scene is a seduction disguised as small talk. Phyllis complains that she and her husband "sit here all evening and never say a word to each other," painting herself as lonely and available, then shifts without a pause to business: an accident policy, paid for privately, that her husband must never know about. When Neff says he understands — "You mean you want him to have the policy without him knowing it" — he is admitting he reads the real request. She pushes further, floating ways a man might die by accident, then delivers the line that gives the scene its name: "Any little thing like that, just so it's a morgue job." Neff finally says it aloud — "You want to knock him off, don't you?" — and her answer is not denial but offense at how he sees her. The flirtation and the murder plan are the same conversation.
Theme
DeceptionPhyllis hides a murder plan inside an innocent insurance question, and Neff pretends not to understand it.
BetrayalA wife quietly plans her husband's death while discussing policy paperwork in her own parlor.
このチャプターで学べること
- Knock someone off is slang for killing
- You mean forces a plain admission
- Morgue job is grim underworld talk
- Get away with it warns against escape
発音のポイント
- bet your life — Stress bet and life to make the promise land.
- get away with it — Blend get away and keep with it light.
Sometimes we sit here all evening and never say a word to each other.Phyllis describes a silent marriage, presenting herself as lonely and neglected — the opening move in her pitch.
Any little thing like that, just so it's a morgue job.Phyllis says the death can look like any ordinary accident, as long as it ends in the morgue — the clearest hint of murder.
I think you're swell, so long as I'm not your husband.Neff's parting shot: he likes Phyllis but sees exactly what she is, and is glad he is not her next victim.
Only sometimes it can't quite make it on its own, it has to have a little help.Phyllis's coded way of saying the 'accident' may need someone to arrange it — a hint that the death would be helped along.
このシーンについての質問
Why does Phyllis want the policy in secret?
She tells Neff her husband doesn't want accident insurance and is superstitious about it. The secrecy is the point: a policy her husband never learns about is one that could pay off if he dies unexpectedly.
Does Neff realize what Phyllis is asking?
Yes. He restates the scheme back to her — the husband has the policy without knowing it, and the company doesn't know he doesn't know — then finally names it: "You want to knock him off, don't you?"
What does 'a morgue job' mean?
It's Phyllis's phrase for a death that ends up in the morgue. She says any ordinary accident will do "just so it's a morgue job," which is her way of saying the death has to look accidental.
Why does Phyllis act offended when Neff says it plainly?
She has been hinting while keeping her hands clean, so hearing the words out loud forces her to deny it — yet her anger is about being seen, not about being wrong.
What happens after Neff accuses Phyllis?
She refuses to admit it, calls it "a horrible thing to say," and throws the accusation back at him. Neff walks out — but he comes back, and the two of them carry out the murder.
深夜の告白 · 全 21 章
すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 6 章a red-hot pokerPhyllis Returns in the Rain
第 1 章for my moneyWalter Meets Phyllis
第 2 章a honey of aNeff Flirts With Phyllis
第 3 章tie knots in one's stomachKeyes Busts Garlopis's Fake Claim
第 4 章worried sickPhyllis Pitches Accident Insurance
再生中 · 第 5 章knock someone offPhyllis Proposes Killing Her Husband
第 6 章a red-hot pokerPhyllis Returns in the Rain
第 7 章get ideasPhyllis Tells Walter Her Story
第 8 章crook the houseNeff's Roulette Wheel Speech
第 9 章at a crackNeff Fools Dietrichson Into Signing
第 10 章take it or leave itWalter Drives Lola to Nino
第 11 章accidentally on purposeWalter Meets Phyllis at the Market
第 12 章shaking like a leafKeyes Offers Neff the Claims Job
第 13 章back inWalter Builds His Alibi
第 14 章got the ballNorton Says It Wasn't an Accident
第 15 章a leg to stand onNorton Questions the Widow
第 16 章through the wringerKeyes Suspects the Beneficiary
第 17 章gets his teeth intoLola Tells Neff About the Nurse
第 18 章like a hawkKeyes Explains the Dietrichson Murder
第 19 章come apart at the seamsKeyes Exposes the Impersonation
第 20 章hang on to your hatKeyes Blames the Wrong Man
第 21 章brushed offWalter Confronts Phyllis第 5 / 21 章 · 残り約 54 分