Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

......what his name is

English answer:

This young man, Edwin, or whatever his name is, what's he do?

Added to glossary by Charles Davis
Aug 23, 2019 21:25
4 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term

......what his name is

English Other Cinema, Film, TV, Drama listening and comprehension
I can't understand what this actress is saying before: ".....what his name is

She says (I think): This young man, Edwin, .................what his name is, what he do?

And it seems she's saying: what he do? I know that the correct way to say it would be: What does he do?

Link: https://youtu.be/4PoWXWYSVUQ

Time: 2:16 ---> 2:19

Thanks!
Change log

Aug 23, 2019 23:10: writeaway changed "Field (write-in)" from "How to murder a rich uncle (1957)" to "listening and comprehension "

Aug 25, 2019 06:32: Charles Davis Created KOG entry

Discussion

B D Finch Aug 25, 2019:
@Tomaso The meaning is actually very obvious. She is being rude by pretending that she can't bothered to know his name (it's actually Edward, not Edwin) and talking about him rather than to him, even though he is right behind her.
Tomasso Aug 25, 2019:
(who ever he is) What is his name, a loose meaning, versus fundamentalist , is it not a question of Who he is, What he does, Who is he could that mean his name, etc.. just a suggestion that if you hear some one referred to as Whats his face,,,,,,,,,,meaning who is he etc....how wide is the meaning?
B D Finch Aug 24, 2019:
@Tomasso "What's his face" (note the apostrophe) would be very anachronistic and inappropriate here.
Tomasso Aug 24, 2019:
variant A variant of Whats his name, is Whats his face, (What is his face)

Responses

+2
24 mins
Selected

This young man, Edwin, or whatever his name is, what's he do?

"What's he do" is a contraction of "what does he do?", i.e., "what is his job/profession?".

That's what she says.
Peer comment(s):

agree Björn Vrooman : Next time someone complains about Southern slang, I'll tell'em to listen to this lady for a while. As a bonus, they'll see young Michael Caine acting on screen. // Got Harry Brown on DVD. It's a good movie but there's a lot to digest.
35 mins
Thanks, Björn :-) You're right; that point had escaped me. I wasn't really aware of Michael Caine until Alfie, though I must have seen him in Zulu before that, I grew up hearing people speak like this, so it's as clear as day to me.
agree B D Finch
12 hrs
Thanks, Barbara
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Charles, thanks for your help!"
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search