Brad Pitt - Inglourious Basterds

My name is Lieutenant Aldo Raine.

And I’m putting together a special team, and I need me eight soldiers.

Eight Jewish American soldiers.

Now, you all might’ve heard rumors about the armada happening soon.

Well, we’ll be leaving a little earlier.

We’re going to be dropped into France dressed as civilians.

Once we’re in enemy territory, as a bushwhacking guerrilla army, we’re going to be doing one thing and one thing only.

Killing Nazis.

I don’t know about you all, but I sure as hell didn’t come down from the goddamn Smoky Mountains, cross 5,000 miles of water, fight my way through half of Sicily and jump out of a fucking airplane to teach the Nazis lessons in humanity.

Nazi ain’t got no humanity.

They’re the foot soldiers of a Jew-hating, mass-murdering maniac and they need to be destroyed.

That’s why any and every son of a bitch we find wearing a Nazi uniform, they’re going to die.

My name is Lieutenant Aldo Raine.

And I’m putting together a special team, and I need me eight soldiers.

A Lieutenant is an officer of middle rank in the armed forces.

when you put something together, you are combining two or more people or things into a pair or group.

Hey, Joy, I gotta ask.

The girl from the Xerox place, buck naked or big tup of jam?

Put your hands together.

in this case, he needs eight soldiers to make a special team. Let’s listen again to hear how he says this.

And I need me eight soldiers.

I need me is a phrase used as slang, usually when you’re looking for something. It is not grammatically correct, but you can hear natives use it. for example, if you’re hungry, you might say “I need me some food”.

Now, you all might’ve heard rumors about the armada happening soon. Now in this movie, Brad Pitt has an accent from the south of the United States and we can see an element that is common in accents from that part of the country.

when he pronounces “you all it sounds like one word: “Y’all”. this is a common informal way used to address the second person plural. In other words, a group of people that you are speaking to.

Hey!

Hi.

Oh, wow!

Hey, why are you all dressed up?

Well, we’ll be leaving a little earlier.

Notice how he pronounces the word “little”. He reduced the sound of it a lot, so it sounds more like lil than little. This is used in certain parts of the United States as a form of simplifying consonants.

Nothing.

it’s just a little gift I got Alex.

we’re going to be dropped into France dressed as civilians. To drop something means, in the literal way, to deliberately let something fall. In a different context, to be dropped is an expression used when talking about carrying someone to a specific place.

This is commonly heard in war movies, where soldiers are quickly dropped by helicopter or plane. Now, in everyday English similarly to this we use the phrase him to drop off or to be dropped off.

Let’s watch an example of this: my character, Dr. Stephen Wilson, is also sad because his son wouldn’t take his advice.

And he wanted to be dropped off a block away from school.

once we’re in enemy territory, as a bushwhacking guerrilla army,

bushwhacked means to launch a surprise assault from hidden place, especially if the victim is unarmed. It is not a common expression. this is a compound noun, formed from the words whack, which is another way to say “to hit,” and bush, which we can see here.

I don’t know about you all, but I sure as hell didn’t come down from the goddamn Smoky Mountains,

These two expressions they used to emphasize what is being said:

“As hell” is used to make a statement more forceful. “Goddamn” is used especially to emphasize anger or frustration. let’s watch some examples of these two phrases being used:

Well, why don’t you tell me what you’re supposed to be? Huh?

because I sure as hell can’t figure it out.

take the day off.

but I’m here. I’m ready to work.

Well, you can’t work if I can’t get your scene partner into the goddamn ring. I’ll deal with Debbie.

cross 5,000 miles of water, fight my way through half of Sicily

figuratively, the expression “fight one’s way”, means to move forward or make progress, and that implies making a big effort.

Example, I fought my way through university and law school as a single mother.

However, in this case, Aldo is probably using it literally. As Italy was one of the enemy countries of the USA in World War II, it’s quite possible that he actually fought in Sicily, Italy.

and jump out of a fucking airplane to teach the Nazis lessons in humanity.

Nazi ain’t got no humanity.

Now this phrase is another good example of natives purposefully making grammatical errors. “Ain’t” is an informal way to say “do not” or “am not”. for example, I am not going to go; I ain’t going to go

he doesn’t have time; he ain’t got time.

Also, we have a clear case of double negative. This happens when two forms of grammatical negation are used in the same sentence. In some languages, double negatives cancel one another and produce an affirmative; but in this case, double negative intensifies the negation.

However, keep in mind this is not considered correct English.

So “ain’t got no humanity” means the same as “do not have any humanity”.

Alright. Easy, mimey, the moment has passed. It ain’t gonna happen.

They’re the foot soldiers of a Jew-hating, mass-murdering maniac and they need to be destroyed.

Foot soldiers are members of the military who do not have a high position, although they do a large amount of work. A “maniac”, is someone who behaves in an extreme or uncontrolled way

In this case, he is making reference to Hitler.

They’re the foot soldiers of a Jew-hating, mass-murdering maniac and they need to be destroyed.

So, gentlemen, let’s discuss the prospect of ending the war tonight.

So, the way I see it, since Hitler’s death or possible rescue rests solely on my reaction, if I do nothing, it’s as if I’m causing his death even more than yourselves. Wouldn’t you agree?

I guess so.

How about you, Utivich?

I guess so, too.

Gentlemen, I have no intention of killing Hitler and killing Goebbels and killing Goring and killing Bormann, not to mention winning the war single-handedly for the Allies, only later to find myself standing before a Jewish tribunal.

If you want to win the war tonight, we have to make a deal.

What kind of deal?

The kind you wouldn’t have the authority to make.

However, I’m sure this mission of yours has a commanding officer.

A general.

I’m betting for.

OSS would be my guess.

That’s a bingo!

Is that the way you say it?

“That’s a bingo.”

You just say, “Bingo.”

Bingo! How fun?

So, gentlemen, let’s discuss the prospect of ending the war tonight.

A prospect refers to the possibility that something might happen in the future. In this case, Hans Landa is talking about the possibility of ending the war by making a deal.

Won’t that spoil our appetites for the chicken you’re gonna make?

All right. That settles. we’re going out. you like sushi?

There’s a great place the street. I’m not happy about this. What’s the last things you were ever happy about?

The prospect of fried chicken.

You can use this word with different patterns, for example prospects for a prospect that.

I think you’ll appreciate this. This is very exciting.

What are you working on?

Something remarkable.

Since my prospects for the Nobel Prize in Physics have disappeared

Thank you very much.

So, the way I see it, since Hitler’s death or possible rescue rests solely on my reaction, We say “the way I see it” simply as alterntative to “in my opinion” or to explain how we interpret something.

Listen, Chandler, the way I see it I was lucky enough to find someone that I really love.

I just I wanna be around her as much as I can.

since Hitler’s death or possible rescue rests solely on my reaction,

solely is another way of saying only or just.

If something like a decision rests on you, it means that you’re in charge of making such a decision. To understand this expression, it is important to know what is going on in the scene:

Hans knows that there explosives in the premiere where Hitler is. If he decides to intervene, Hitler will be saved.

if not, Hitler will probably die, and that would mean that the war would be over. That’s why he says that Hitler’s death or possible rescue rests solely on his reaction.

because his decision would change Hitler’s fate.

if I do nothing, it’s as if I’m causing his death even more than yourselves. Wouldn’t you agree?

“As if” is used in such a way that something seems to be true. He is saying that doing nothing, in this case, would be the same as causing Hitler’s death.

I guess so. How about you, Utivich?

I guess so, too.

This phrase is often used instead of saying “yes”, when you’re not completely certain or you don’t want to fully commit to something.

Wow, Pheebs, you speak Italian?

I guess so

Someday Ross is gonna meet somebody and he’s gonna his own life.

Right?

I guess so

she keeps sending me mixed signals but I think we both want the same thing.

what’s that?

Unconditional love.

I guess that’s all anybody wants.

I guess so

Well

Gentlemen, I have no intention of killing Hitler and killing Goebbels and killing Goring and killing Bormann, not to mention winning the war single-handedly for the Allies, only later to find myself standing before a Jewish tribunal.

We say not to mention to introduce an additional thing that makes the situation even more difficult, surprising, interesting, etc.

for example, it’s incredibly hard to become so good at a sport that you’ll go to the Olympics. not to mention win a medal. now let sludge some examples of this call occasion being used: pay attention, and try to guess which one is different:

I’m not a big fan of travel.

Yeah, not to mention the weirdos you’d meet.

What’d you think she was gonna to do?

Well, you know. I mean—I don’t know.

No, what?

Well, obviously, I prefer not to mention any

If we just focused our energy onto something a little bit more worthwhile?

Not to mention the money we would save.

I know.

He mentions winning the war single-handedly. If you do something single-handedly, it means that you do it without help from anyone else.

So, you think this is going pretty well?

Baby, are you kidding?

You single-handedly pulled off the party of the year.

Oh, stop it.

not to mention winning the war single-handedly for the Allies, only later to find myself standing before a Jewish tribunal.

To find oneself in a certain situation means to discover or realize a situation you might be living in the future. Example, he moved to Canada hoping to get fluent in English, only to find himself always speaking Portuguese with other Brazilians.

Before could be used in many ways: which one of these definitions do you think is the correct one for this situation?

opposite of after

meaning in front of

condition for something to happen

A tribunal is another word for court of justice.

This word is commonly used to refer to war crimes tribunal, like the famous Nuremberg trials after World War II.

if you want to win the war tonight, we have to make a deal.

A deal is an agreement or an arrangement. Basically, you do something in order to get something back. for example, let’s make a deal. I’ll wash your car and you’ll let me use it tonight.

we have to make a deal.

Normally, we like to say this with connected speech: “we have to make a deal.”

you gotta co-write it. you gotta do it. you have to do it.

I’m sorry, Max.

but in order to sound emphatic, he over pronounces “have”.

you can distinctly hear the ‘f’ sound here.

we have to make a deal.

What kind of deal?

Here we have a good example of connected speech. when you have two similar sounds next to each other, one of them disappears, and only the stronger one is pronounced.

In this case, between the “t” and the “k”, the “T” is dropped.

Furthermore, we link the common expression “kind of”. You probably know that often we reduce this to “kinda”.

However, here Aldo reduces it even more to just kinda. so this whole phrase reduces and connects together. Instead of saying “what kind of deal”, he says: what kind of deal?

The kind you wouldn’t have the authority to make.

However, I’m sure this mission of yours has a commanding officer.

In a military context, commanding is used to refer to someone who has a position of authority.

In this case, the Office of Strategic Services

A general.

I’m betting for.

OSS would be my guess.

Even though betting means, in a literal sense, to risk money on the results of the games, in order to win more money, in this case it is used to say that something seems very likely to happen or to be true.

That’s a bingo!

Is that the way you say it?

“That’s a bingo.”

Although he speaks exceptional English, Mr. Hans is a language learner himself!

Even though it’s a dramatic moment, he’s taking advantage of speaking with native English speakers to improve his skills.

in this case, he asks them if he is using the expression “bingo!” in a proper way. this is quite humorous given the seriousness of the situation.

You just say, “Bingo.”

Bingo! How fun?

if you’re playing the game “bingo” that’s the word you shout out if you win.

However, it is used in everyday speaking to show that someone has arrived at the correct answer or conclusion. So Hans says “bingo” because by the expression on the Americans’ faces, he can tell he guessed correctly who commands them.

what’s that? Some sort of sock dispenser?

Bingo! I’m in the closet business. And this is a crude prototype of my new invention.

Bingo! How fun?

we use “how” to show surprise about something.

You might say “how strange” when something unusual or unexpected happens, or described a food by saying “how delicious”. Everybody, let’s get a picture.

Pupparazzi! How great is that?

Everybody squeeze in.

My name is Lieutenant Aldo Raine.

And I’m putting together a special team, and I need me eight soldiers.

Eight Jewish American soldiers.

Now, you all might’ve heard rumors about the armada happening soon.

Well, we’ll be leaving a little earlier.

We’re going to be dropped into France dressed as civilians.

Once we’re in enemy territory, as a bushwhacking guerrilla army, we’re going to be doing one thing and one thing only.

Killing Nazis.

I don’t know about you all, but I sure as hell didn’t come down from the goddamn Smoky Mountains, cross 5,000 miles of water, fight my way through half of Sicily and jump out of a fucking airplane to teach the Nazis lessons in humanity.

Nazi ain’t got no humanity.

They’re the foot soldiers of a Jew-hating, mass-murdering maniac and they need to be destroyed.

That’s why any and every son of a bitch we find wearing a Nazi uniform, they’re going to die.

So, gentlemen, let’s discuss the prospect of ending the war tonight.

So, the way I see it, since Hitler’s death or possible rescue rests solely on my reaction, if I do nothing, it’s as if I’m causing his death even more than yourselves. Wouldn’t you agree?

I guess so.

How about you, Utivich?

I guess so, too.

Gentlemen, I have no intention of killing Hitler and killing Goebbels and killing Goring and killing Bormann, not to mention winning the war single-handedly for the Allies, only later to find myself standing before a Jewish tribunal.

If you want to win the war tonight, we have to make a deal.

What kind of deal?

The kind you wouldn’t have the authority to make.

However, I’m sure this mission of yours has a commanding officer.

A general.

I’m betting for.

OSS would be my guess.

That’s a bingo!

Is that the way you say it?

“That’s a bingo.”

You just say, “Bingo.”

Bingo! How fun?