Is it possible that the phrase "You think this is a tan?" could mean "You think I am lying?"
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Is it possible that the phrase "You think this is a tan?" could mean "You think I am lying?"
Not in American English.Quote:
Originally Posted by alexsms
And not in British English :-)
"You think I am fibbing" would be another way of saying "you think I am lying?"
The only possible way "You think this is a tan?" could mean "Do you think I'm lying?" would be если "белый" человек загорел, чтобы выдать себя за светлокожого негра! (If a white person had gotten a suntan for the purpose of trying to pass as a light-skinned black.)
!!!!!! This is actually from a conversation in HOUSE M.D. series. The conversation is between two African-Americans (doctor and patient); the patient doesn't believe the doctor. Here is the excerpt:Quote:
Originally Posted by Throbert McGee
Patient: What kind of studies you talking about? What kind of studies are there?
Dr. Foreman: They get some patients. They give them some drugs.
Patient: I've had white people lying to me for 60 years.
Dr. Foreman: You think this is a tan? You think they tell you everything? The trouble
with us black folk, we can't tell the difference anymore between racism and everybody gets screwed.
So as I understood Foreman means: "Do you think I am lying? That I am white, and this is a tan?"
Is that what you mean Throbert?
Is it possible that what he really says is "scam", not "tan"?
it's tan, i have the official subtitles (and actually Throbert McGee had somehow figured out that African-Americans are involved even before i posted subtitles here)
In that case, he is referring to his skin colour, and the fact that he is Black.
So it's an American style, sarcastic joke.He's essentially saying: "Do you think I am a white person with a tan? You realise that I am black, don't you?" Implicitly, "I know what you are talking about, because I am black and I am familiar with this topic".
It always take me an eternity to understand this type of American sarcastic humour. And I think I have heard the joke with black Americans referring to having a "tan" before...
That's definitely what is going on then. There is no other explanation.
It's just a part of the whole dialog, which basically refers to racism and whites lying to blacks. I just wouldn't place the whole dialog here cos it's too long.
Duh, I think Hanna has it right. He probably points at himself and asks "Do you think this is a tan?"
Actually, I was thinking more of a scenario like Robert Downey Jr. (from Ironman) playing a white actor who's playing a black soldier in Tropic Thunder. But your understanding of the dialogue in House ("Do you think I'm only pretending to be black?") seems to be totally correct.Quote:
Originally Posted by alexsms
An analogous situation could happen between (for example) a Japanese-American patient and a Korean-American doctor:
PATIENT: White people don't understand me! They have no idea what it's like to be a racial minority in America!
DOCTOR: [указывая свои глаза] Um, HELLO?! Do you think I'm only squinting because of the bright lights in here?!
("to squint" = жмуриться, I think)
Or between a female patient and a female doctor:
PATIENT: Men just don't understand women's bodies -- the entire medical industry ignores the special needs of women!
DOCTOR: [указывая свои груди] Do you think I'm smuggling a pair of contraband grapefruits under my shirt?!
So, the "real meaning" is: "Look at who I am -- is it really possible that I could be unfamiliar with your problems?"