The Geek Interpreters

[Carol the Dabbler]

Surely he would consider it even less relevant than whether the earth goes round the sun. 

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Somewhere on ff.net there is a story about how Lestrade and John are going to a pub to celebrate Sherlock's birthday and they try to trick Sherlock into joining them because he refuses to go along with any of their suggestions on how he would like to celebrate it.

[Arcadia]

Finished watching SiB but before I get into the 2nd series, I thought a review of what we've learned so far would be in order...

 

- The design on John's cup is the emblem for the British army medical corps.

- The Daily Mail is a lurid, sensationalist rag, but you never heard that here.

- If you call the London Eye a "ferris wheel" (it's an observation deck!), you will be forced to ride it for eternity.

- Sherlock adores Mrs. Hudson because who doesn't?

- Our boys are, startlingly, about the same age as the actors portraying them.

- A  ! or ? in parentheses indicates that the punctuation in question might be intended sarcastically or ironically(!)

- The bank in TBB is really big(!)

- The bullet shaped building with diamond pattern is called "The Gherkin" because ... uh, because the British have a lovely sense of humor and often give names like that to things.

- "Locum work" is filling in for someone else.

- ASBO means "Anti-Social Behavior Order". Sherlock must have several.

- Egon Ronay is a chef. At Bart's. jk

- Sherlockandjohn is hereby designated our "Official Sherlock Smacker" should said sleuth dare be mean to Molly ever again.

- The spray painting moment at the end of TBB may or may not have significance later on...

- A Lilo is an inflatable mattress. No wonder John preferred the sofa.

- It's not clear who sent the envelope containing the pink phone in TGG.

- An Oyster card allows you to ride public transportation. It's called an Oyster card because ... uh, the British have a lovely sense of humor and often give names like that to things.

- "Not much cop this caring lark" - us Amuricans would probably say "Not very useful, this caring thing," but it wouldn't sound nearly as cool.

- "Gottle o' gear" is what you say when you're pretending to use a doctor as a ventriloquist's dummy.

- Sherlock's b'day is January 6. Unless it isn't.

 

SiB questions go up later today. I know, I know, you're all breathless with anticipation(!)

[Janie]

Nicely summed up

[Carol the Dabbler]

- The bullet shaped building with diamond pattern is called "The Gherkin" because ... uh, because the British have a lovely sense of humor and often give names like that to things.

 

- An Oyster card allows you to ride public transportation. It's called an Oyster card because ... uh, the British have a lovely sense of humor and often give names like that to things.

Just in case no one said this already, a "gherkin" is a small pickled vegetable resembling a cucumber -- in fact, jars labeled "gherkins" (at least in the US) generally contain small pickled cucumbers.  (By the way, "the Gherkin" is the polite name for that building.)

 

"Oyster card" apparently comes from the phrase "the world is your oyster."  Of course, the card covers only Greater London.

 

Which reminds me of this quote from Mr. Holmes the Younger:

 

First hostage from Cornwall; the second from London; the third from Yorkshire, judging by her accent. What’s he doing – working his way round the world?

 

Thanks for the recap -- now bring on the Scandal!

 

[Arcadia]

(By the way, "the Gherkin" is the polite name for that building.)

Er, yes, I can quite imagine what some of the other names might be.....  

 

"Oyster card" apparently comes from the phrase "the world is your oyster."  Of course, the card covers only Greater London.

 

Which reminds me of this quote from Mr. Holmes the Younger:

First hostage from Cornwall; the second from London; the third from Yorkshire, judging by her accent. What’s he doing – working his way round the world?

 

Oh, I missed the joke! Thanks, that is so funny!

[Arcadia]

Okay, so this was only my third viewing of Scandal ... fourth, now, cuz as soon as I watched it I had to watch it again, trying to figure out what the heck I had just seen. Didn't help .... I am just as confused as ever!

 

Thus most of my questions are of a speculative nature, so I'm going to take those over to the SiB thread and see if I can start an argument. But there's still a couple that can go here.

 

Scandal in Belgravia questions:

 

- The title itself: I know what a Scandal is :-) but what is the significance of Belgravia? I don't remember hearing that name mentioned during the episode.

 

- Are we to understand that the guy in the field killed himself with his own boomerang? (!?!)

 

- What's an MOD official?

 

Oh, and my thanks to whoever pointed out in another thread the visual pun of the "power complex". That went right over my head before, whoosh!

[Caya]

Belgravia is a posh London district. Presumably this is where Irene Adler's house and/or the majority of her wealthy clients were located.

 

Yep, the guy got felled by his own boomerang, I think.

 

M.O.D. is the British Ministry of Defence.

[Carol the Dabbler]

All perfectly good answers, Martina, but I'm in a particularly obsessive/compulsive mood tonight, so shall add a few little bits:

 

The title is also a play on the original Conan Doyle title "A Scandal in Bohemia."

 

Specifically, he was distracted by the backfire and instinctively turned to look at the car when he should have been watching for his boomerang to return.

 

The Ministry of Defence is analogous to the US Department of Defense.

 

[Arcadia]

Thanks ladies, it's all perfectly clear now!

 

If you favor murkier questions, head over to the SiB forum..... http://www.sherlockforum.com/forum/topic/5-episode-1-a-scandal-in-belgravia/page-14?do=findComment&comment=25691

[Ruthyone]

I think Arcadia can be made an 'Honorary Great Briton' for her great understanding of our often quirky language.

[Arcadia]

Oooooooh, cool! Does health insurance come with that? :-)

[Arcadia]

Okay, H.O.U.N.D. questions:

 

- Mrs. Hudson walks in while Sherlock's throwing things about, looking for his cigs. She takes a look at the mess on the floor and says "Oh, chance would be a fine thing." What means this?

- Is that a Landrover the boys are driving to Dartmoor? (I have fond memories of Landrovers...)

- What's WKD? (As mentioned by one of the innkeepers.)

- When John investigates the "Morse code" lights and finds the parked cars, we hear: "Oh Mr. Seldon, you've done it again." Is this a reference to something?

- I thought Britain had strict gun laws (stricter than our stupid ones, anyway); how come it seems everyone has a gun? In this case, Henry.

[Janie]

I don't know about the rest of your questions so I'll try to make sense of the last one:

 

Well, because it's not a real life but fiction. There wouldn't be enough dramatic moments without guns. John has a gun, too. Of course this could be explained by John being a war veteran but I'm not sure the veterans are allowed to keep their gun after they leave the military service. But I think I read an interview with one of the writers and he said that Watson in canon had a gun so it's logical that John has one, too. 

But I don't have an explanation about Henry's gun. Maybe he inherited it from his father and kept it in secret. 

[Arcadia]

So the gun laws in Britain really are pretty strict? I don't know, that's just always what I've heard. My cat could own guns, here.

[besleybean]

" Chance would be a fine thing" just means she wishes Sherlock would permit her to tidy up.

Yes it is a land rover.

WKD is a popular alcho-pop in the UK and possibly thought to be a bit 'gay' for  a man!

"You've done it again" refers to him keep knocking the light switch with his belt.

Yes gun laws are very strict.  Normally only farmers can have them on their land.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Okay, H.O.U.N.D. questions:

 

- Mrs. Hudson walks in while Sherlock's throwing things about, looking for his cigs. She takes a look at the mess on the floor and says "Oh, chance would be a fine thing." What means this?

- Is that a Landrover the boys are driving to Dartmoor? (I have fond memories of Landrovers...)

- What's WKD? (As mentioned by one of the innkeepers.)

- When John investigates the "Morse code" lights and finds the parked cars, we hear: "Oh Mr. Seldon, you've done it again." Is this a reference to something?

- I thought Britain had strict gun laws (stricter than our stupid ones, anyway); how come it seems everyone has a gun? In this case, Henry.

 

Wow, I never even heard a couple of those lines.  Good thing other people were paying attention!

 

Aside from the meaning within the episode, the line "Oh Mr. Seldon, you've done it again" is also a canon reference.  In The Hound of the Baskervilles, there's an escaped prisoner out on the moor, by the name of Seldon, flashing coded signals with a lantern.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Oh....that's rich!   Mr. Seldon sending false morse code at a lover's leap....that is funny.

[Arcadia]

Besleybean, thanks so much! It all makes perfect sense now. I'm going to toss that "chance" line out the next time one of my students makes a mess and see what response I get. (Probably similar to the one Mrs. Hudson got. :-)

 

Carol, thanks also, that's what I was after, now the "Seldon" line is funny!

[besleybean]

Yes, as Steven commented: the best upgrade of Canon so far.

Turning a lantern signal into dogging!  

Do any non-Brits want a translation of 'dogging'?!(Tee Hee.   )

[Carol the Dabbler]

Y'know, the "dogging" connection went right over my head till I heard the commentary.  I had never heard of the phenomenon, and so interpreted that scene as a good old-fashioned lover's lane.  But "dogging" fits right in with the Hounds, doesn't it?

 

[Arcadia]

Yes, as Steven commented: the best upgrade of Canon so far.

Turning a lantern signal into dogging!  

Do any non-Brits want a translation of 'dogging'?!(Tee Hee.   )

Well, I would've.... !  but Carol's remark provided sufficient context (thank goodness!), so --- never mind!

[Janie]

Yeah, thanks Carol! I would have asked but now I'm glad Carol was quicker But I thought it would be something like that. 

[Arcadia]

Finally, questions about The Reichenbach Fall!

 

This one was tough, for some reason. Maybe because so much of it is so ... sad ...   Anyhow:

 

1. Near the beginning: What or who are The Bow Street Runners? What's the deal with the dusty book? I have a feeling I'm missing a joke here.

 

2. Not a question but I just learned that the music Moriarty is listening to while he's breaking into the crown jewels is called “The Thieving Magpie.” Cute.

 

3. The song ("Sinnerman") that is playing while JM and SH are arriving for the trial ... does that have some signficance other than the lyrics? Seems  like I've heard that music used in some other show/movie.

 

4. The entire scene when John is taken to the Diogenes Club rather mystifies me.

• Why do the 2 goons come in and muffle John?
• What is the discussion about silence referring to?
• What is meant about "we don't want a repeat of 1972?"
• And most puzzling of all, why is John so snarky when Mycroft asks him to look out for Sherlock? He does that anyway, why does he seem so ... annoyed? (Well, Mycroft annoys everyone, but hopefully you know what I mean.)

5. Who else wants to punch Donovan in the nose?

 

6. Don't quite get the point of the hidden camera in 221B, can't see how it plays into the story. Anyone?

 

7. Who else wants to hug Molly for finally making Sherlock really see her?

 

8. Who else wants to read "Sherlock's life story?" (Even if it is written by creepy Kitty Riley...) What could be in it that's "the perfect ammunition" for Moriarty? (Of course, after TEH, I guess we could assume the story's all made up ....)

 

9. On the roof, when Sherlock sings "if I've got you," is that a real song? Or is BC just trying to make all the fangirls faint?

 

10. Tears; real or faked?

 

May not get into Season 3 for awhile, somehow it feels like cheating .... ?

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

The Bow Street Runners were a police force of Victorian England, stationed of course, in Bow Street, London.

 

The dusty book, I think, is a copy of Brother Grimm's Fairy Tales, supposedly Sherlock's favorite childhood stories. But it's been awhile since I have watched this, so I'm not sure.

 

 

The first rule of the Diogenes Club is silence. The second rule of thumb is, silence. The third last but not least rule is, silence. Long standing members of this club could be kicked out, disowned, barred for life just for greeting another member. Those were enforcers of the rules...not goons. It was a wonder that they took John to the "Stranger's Room" and not thrown him out on his ear. Mycroft must have warned them ahead of time.

 

I think John is upset because it seems that Mycroft has betrayed Sherlock and expects John to pick up the pieces and John is upset over the fact that Mycroft is expecting John to do something that Mycroft should have been doing all along.

 

 5. Absolutely, yes.

 

 6. Mycroft's way of keeping tabs on his little brother apparently. Or Moriarty...but most people go with this being Mycroft's work.

 

 7. Yes, yes and yes.

 

 8. I think it would be rather sad. Not all parts were made up. He used Sherlock's love of Grimm's fairy tales to pin the abduction and almost murder of those two children onto Sherlock.

 

  9. I think they are notes of a certain song. Some people thought it was part of the clue as to how Sherlock was to solve "the code" or was part of the code but in reality it could have been to show off his talent.

 

  10. I still can't see why he would fake tears when there is no way John could have ever seen them. I know Mofftiss says that everything that happened on that call was fake. But maybe that's not how Cumberbatch was playing it. Mofftiss also said that they thought in canon Sherlock Holmes and Watson broke into Charles Augustus Milverton's house with the idea of killing the man and the tale of the woman was just a cover up....I'm not buying it. And by the way BC shows Sherlock's struggle when CAM shows him and John his "mind vault"  and Sherlock's struggle with the his dilemma on the terrace....I'm not buying it there either.