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It Fell Off a Truck
The above line was from the Jonathan Demme film, "Married to the Mob." I saw this film both inside and outside New York City. Needless to say, it got a much bigger laugh outside NYC. In the city, I suspect, it was too common an expression to be especially funny.
I have the same problem with the Sopranos. The series takes place in northern New Jersey, and I guess it's just too close to home. The speech patterns and much of the idiom is too familiar for me to find funny when watching the show. However, if I see them in print later on, or hear them out of context, I'll get it.
Here's a page with some Sopranos WAV files. You can replace the Microsoft Sound or any Windows function with a corresponding sound with one of them. I know some people use "[bleepin'] Internet" as the sound they hear when receiving email or opening Internet Explorer.
http://www.robinc.org/sopranosounds.html
By the way, the idiomatic expression, "in a New York minute," does not exist in New York. Or at least it didn't until people started hearing it on television. It's kind of like "french fries" in Paris.
Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net
I have the same problem with the Sopranos. The series takes place in northern New Jersey, and I guess it's just too close to home. The speech patterns and much of the idiom is too familiar for me to find funny when watching the show. However, if I see them in print later on, or hear them out of context, I'll get it.
Here's a page with some Sopranos WAV files. You can replace the Microsoft Sound or any Windows function with a corresponding sound with one of them. I know some people use "[bleepin'] Internet" as the sound they hear when receiving email or opening Internet Explorer.
http://www.robinc.org/sopranosounds.html
By the way, the idiomatic expression, "in a New York minute," does not exist in New York. Or at least it didn't until people started hearing it on television. It's kind of like "french fries" in Paris.
Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net