no way; an exclamation of surprise — Among friends it signals surprise, not an order.
Shut up!Whatever Works · 2009 — 第 8 / 16 章 · 4'10" · B2
Boris on a Year of Marriage, Explained：What possessed me?
Melodie comes home from a rowdy Latin club and a date that went nowhere; Boris, one year into their marriage, sizes it up for the camera. "And you know what? Not the worst year of my life, either," he admits, which from him is closer to a love letter.
あらすじ
Melodie returns from a Latin club's limbo night and a disappointing date with a music type and his friends. Boris, now a year into the marriage, delivers a wry inventory of it: she is cheerful rather than demanding, loves her nanny job, sits up with him through panic attacks, and accompanies him to the emergency room.
注目の表現
mind-bogglingWhat possessed me?a good sportkeep someone company
00:00 / 04:10Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
このシーンの表現
What possessed me?
what made me do that
Boris asks the camera how he ever married her, unable to explain what possessed him.
What possessed me to sell the car so cheaply?
このシーンの他の表現
- mind-boggling
hard to take in
- a good sport
someone who takes things well
- keep someone company
stay with someone so they are not alone
- a delicate balance
a balance that is easily upset
- Not the worst year of my life
ironic: praise by faint damnation
このシーンのメモ一覧
55 行のセリフに 21 件のメモ
relative clause: The clause describes the stuff they enjoy hating, with that left out.
You were talking about people and politics and all that stuff you guys like to hate.a complete failure — Casual for a total flop; not for formal talk.
- It was a big washout! Yeah. - Really?go on a date as two couples
And the couple that we double-dated with, they were just protons!know nothing at all about
Tipsy, Melody mocks the couple by saying they did not know the first thing about string theory.
Yeah, they didn't know the first thing about string theory.worms; used as an insult — A made-up jab, only with people who know you.
But can you blame me? Hanging out with those inchworms?hard to take in
To the camera, Boris calls the chance factor in life mind-boggling, almost sincere for once.
The chance factor in life is mind-boggling.Stress lands on bog, and the ending runs together.
The chance factor in life is mind-boggling.participle phrase: The participle phrase interrupts the sentence to explain how he came to exist.
I, having emerged through the conjoining of Sam and Yetta Yellnikoff in the Bronx, decades earlier.Link Sam and so the d runs into Yetta.
I, having emerged through the conjoining of Sam and Yetta Yellnikoff in the Bronx, decades earlier.what made me do that
Boris asks the camera how he ever married her, unable to explain what possessed him.
Can you believe I married her? What possessed me?a false sense of purpose
This search in life for something to give the illusion of meaning.calm the fear
To quell the panic.one time each week
Once a week we see a movie.someone who takes things well
Boris admits she does not get every film, but she tries and is a good sport.
Maybe she doesn't understand everything I take her to, but she tries and she's a good sport.stay awake at night
She sits up nights with me when I have my panic attacks.stay with someone so they are not alone
When Boris panics over a mosquito bite, Melody keeps him company at the emergency room.
She keeps me company at the emergency room when I'm convinced my mosquito bite is a melanoma.keep stress away
Yes, my life is circumscribed, but I manage to avoid stress.a balance that is easily upset
Boris says he has achieved a delicate balance, quietly admitting how easily it could break.
I've achieved a delicate balance.condition clause: The as-long-as clause sets the condition his peace depends on.
And as long as I can maintain it, I feel less inclined to ending it.Link ending it so it sounds like en-din-git.
And as long as I can maintain it, I feel less inclined to ending it.「Boris on a Year of Marriage」を読み解く
What's really going on
Boris frames the whole year as a cosmic accident: "The chance factor in life is mind-boggling," he says, tracing how a random event along the Mississippi produced Melodie and a Bronx birth produced him, until their paths crossed. But the detachment is a shield. "Can you believe I married her? What possessed me?" he asks, then spends the rest of the scene listing her virtues — she is a good sport about films she doesn't understand, keeps him company at the ER, sits up nights during his panic attacks. His real thesis arrives at the end: "as long as I can maintain it, I feel less inclined to ending it." For a man who calls life meaningless, that is about as close to a declaration of love as he gets.
Theme
MarriageBoris lists what makes the union bearable, and admits a year with Melodie is not the worst of his life.
PhilosophyHe frames their meeting as a random accident in an indifferent universe, then confesses he keeps living for a delicate balance.
このチャプターで学べること
- Boris praises his wife by saying the year was not his worst.
- Chance, not choice, is what he blames for the marriage.
- Company in a hospital corridor counts as love here.
発音のポイント
- mind-boggling — Stress lands on bog, and the ending runs together.
- Sam and Yetta — Link Sam and so the d runs into Yetta.
- ending it — Link ending it so it sounds like en-din-git.
The chance factor in life is mind-boggling.Boris marvels at how much of life is pure accident, and uses it to set up the improbable fact that he and Melodie ended up together.
Can you believe I married her? What possessed me?Boris's mock-despairing way of asking how he ever made such a choice, even though he spends the whole scene defending it.
And you know what? Not the worst year of my life, either.His grudging verdict on the marriage: by saying it is not the worst, he is quietly admitting it is actually good.
Maybe she doesn't understand everything I take her to, but she tries and she's a good sport.Boris praises Melodie indirectly: she may not get his culture, but she goes along with it cheerfully, which matters more to him.
And as long as I can maintain it, I feel less inclined to ending it.His darkest line made tender: a stable, undemanding marriage keeps his despair at bay, so in effect it is keeping him alive.
このシーンについての質問
Why does Boris say he married Melodie?
Part accident and part comfort. He presents it as a random event in an indifferent universe, then admits she is cheerful, undemanding, and stays with him through panic attacks and ER visits.
Is Boris happy in the marriage?
In his own way. He complains about her taste and the grits, but he calls it not the worst year of his life and says it makes him less inclined to end his life.
Who is Jessica, and why does Boris compare Melodie to her?
The smart, ambitious woman from Boris's old life. He says Melodie is not as smart as Jessica but also not as ambitious or predatory, a trade he prefers.
What did Melodie tell the people at the club about Jethro Paige?
That back home he was caught making love with a sheep. She told it to an unimpressed crowd, then added, as Boris would say, "whatever works."
Why does Boris keep bringing up string theory?
It is his shorthand for the intellectual world he misses. He scorns people who don't know the first thing about it, because their cheerful ignorance is exactly what he cannot share.
人生万歳！ · 全 16 章
すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 9 章plain as the nose on your faceMelodie's Mother Shows Up
第 1 章whatever worksBoris Breaks the Fourth Wall
第 2 章eke out a livingBoris Panics and Jumps Out the Window
第 3 章get on my feetBoris Takes Melodie In
第 4 章spare me the detailsBoris's Runaway Tells Her Past
第 5 章out of the questionBoris Rejects Melodie's Crush
第 6 章bark is worse than your biteBoris Refuses to Marry Melodie
第 7 章play one's cards rightMelodie Meets Perry
再生中 · 第 8 章What possessed me?Boris on a Year of Marriage
第 9 章plain as the nose on your faceMelodie's Mother Shows Up
第 10 章the long and short of itMarietta Argues and Plays Matchmaker
第 11 章down the toiletLeo Discovers Marietta's Photos
第 12 章out of spiteRandy Pursues Melodie
第 13 章toothpaste back in the tubeRandy Takes Melodie to His Boat
第 14 章of all peopleMelodie's Father Shows Up
第 15 章look what the cat dragged inJohn Shows Up at Marietta's Opening
第 16 章wind downBoris and Melodie Break Up第 8 / 16 章 · 残り約 38 分