My Dad was watching an afternoon rerun of "Murder, She Wrote" (I know, I know, but I don't think it's hereditary!) and one of the characters said "He's going round like a Roman Candle on 4th July".
Correct me if I'm wrong but Catherine Wheels go round, Roman Candles fizz a few sparks then shoot an exploding fireball up into the air.
Or are they different in the US?
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
Should be "going off like a Roman candle on the 4th of July." Yes, imprecise writing, but as conversational American English, not all that terrible. I think the viewer gets the general idea that the person is overly excited.
Wordmatic
Posts: 1390 | Location: Near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Actually I don't think so. The character being referred to was I think (and I admit that I wasn't really paying attention) one who was getting nowhere in an investigation. Going round seems a more appropriate analogy. I think it was bad writing. After all, as a show, it's hardly at the top of the intellectual mountain.
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
I only watched it once. I felt that the idea that a person - a writer to boot, not a detective - would encounter and solve a murder every week was so bizarre as to be unworthy of serious attention.
In my 67 years I've never even encountered one murder, let alone solved one.
Richard English
Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK
Ah. I didn't watch that show much, so I didn't get the context. So it is bad writing! Actually, I've never heard of a Catherine Wheel. I think we just call them pinwheels in the USA. Going round and round like a rat in a cage is more like it.
As for the unlikeliness of detectives solving murders weekly, isn't it the same for all fictional detectives? Possibly not weekly, but in each episode or in each book, every one of them encounters one or more murders every single time, including Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot! I enjoy them anyway, whereas in real life, I would be horrified.
WM
Posts: 1390 | Location: Near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
I remember reading somewhere that with almost 300 episodes with at least one murder each and with Jessica Fletcher present at every one, she should be at number one on the FBI Most Wanted list.
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
An American audience wouldn't know what a Catherine Wheel is (was?). Also, the character probably said "the 4th of July", because we always use "the" and "of" in that phrase.
It's just bad writing . . .unless the "going 'round" really refers to "going around town", in which case it makes sense. The person could have been going around town exploding here and there, or creating a disturbance.
******* "Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions. ~Dalai Lama
I am always interested in what this board thinks about TV shows and movies. Mostly I don't tend to agree with the group think here, though I haven't seen much of "Murder She Wrote." Shu used to like it though, if I recall. It's really old, right?
I think Angela Lansbury is a fine actress. She has been very successful on Broadway. I've seen her performance in Sweeney Todd and she was marvelous. I also loved her voice in the animated Disney Beauty and the Beast.
I admire her greatly for her versatility and her ability to age like a real person and still be successful as a performer.
******* "Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions. ~Dalai Lama
I make no judgement about the actress, not even about the program's writing in general, simply about that specific piece of dialogue. (Mind you Dad was watching it again today and the plot of the episode was pretty ludicrous.)
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
Originally posted by Kalleh: I am always interested in what this board thinks about TV shows and movies. Mostly I don't tend to agree with the group think here, though I haven't seen much of "Murder She Wrote." Shu used to like it though, if I recall. It's really old, right?
Yes and no. My mother used to enjoy watching it when she was in her 80s, because it starred Angela Lansbury whose movies she'd always enjoyed. Since my mother has been gone for 13 years, I assumed the show had been gone about that long too, but then I checked Wikipedia, which says that it ran for 19 years--1984 to 2003! (not the same as the TV.com ref.)
No, Bob, I don't think Americans would say "go round like a pinwheel" either. We might say "go into a tailspin," which is not exactly the same thing, or "go around like a rat in a cage," or "like a rat on a wheel," but not like a pinwheel. We might say "spinning his wheels" to express useless, repetitive activity in which the person is stuck.
Good thing we're not on the writing team for this show. We've missed our deadline 12 times over!
Wordmatic
Posts: 1390 | Location: Near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Agreed, WM. I've never heard the phrase "go round like a pinwheel." I was surprised Bob thought it an American phrase. Perhaps it's a regionalism in the east or west or south? It's not from the midwest...
The phrase used in the TV show was "He's going round like a Roman Candle on 4th July". Bob observed that Roman Candles don't go round. The (British) firework that goes round is a Catherine Wheel. Apparently the US equivalent is called a Pinwheel.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
