ریک و مورتی

hey Rick

I have to make a project for the science fair this weekend.

you think you could help me out?

whatever

well, I mean, traditionally science fairs or a father-son thing.

Well, scientifically, traditions are an idiot thing.

Morty, I think it would be fun for you to work on a science project with your Dad.

Yeh, Dad. why don’t we do it together?

Yes! you backed the right horse on this one, son.

We’ll get out the crayons, brew some coffee, and knock this thing out in two or three days.

What is my purpose?

pass the butter.

Thank you.

Dad, I need a ride to work.

Maybe Rick can give you a ride.

I’m helping Morty tea with science.

I’m busy.

Doing what?

Uh, anything else.

What is my purpose?

you pass butter.

Oh, my god.

Yeah, welcome to the club, pal.

Hey Rick.

I have to make a project for the science fair this weekend.

at schools, a project is a research assignment which usually requires a larger effort and more independent work from the student than usual.

these tasks are usually intended as homework, and in some cases there are school fairs, which is an exhibit where there are prizes and rewards for the best works, where these projects can be presented.

Behold gravity in all its glory!

Pretty lame, Milhouse.

Can I touch it?

I’ve worked too long and hard on this for you just screw it up now.

But it’s got my name on it.

Just stay over there.

Morty is saying that he has to work on a project for the science fair, and of course he wants his grandpa’s help, as he is a super-genius in this subject.

you think you could help me out?

whatever

if you help someone out, you hope that person in a particular situation of need, such as lending them some money or doing some work for them.

so here, Morty is asking Rick to help him with his project.

let’s listen again to the way that Morty says this sentence:

You think you could help me out?

when speaking informally, it is very common for natives to remove the auxiliary verbs “do” in question, such as:

do you know?

you know?

do they want to?

do want to?

So, instead of saying, “do you think you could help me out?” Morty just says:

you think you could help me out?

I have to make a project for the science fair this weekend.

you think you could help me out?

so these first lines that we’ve seen are absolutely packed with connected speech, which is the way that natives reduce and link their words together.

let’s break Morty’s to phrase into a few chunks.

so first he says: I have to make a project

You probably noticed some words clearly, while others disappeared.

natives often reduce the proposition to to tuh. So have to become hafta.

they say the best weapon is one you never have to fire.

I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once.

I’m going to ask Lindsay to marry me.

Are you serious?

Yeah, I just have to get a ring.

we also reduce the article a, and it links to the verb make:

ma-kuh

so instead of: I have to make a project

he says: I have to make a project

next, the proposition for reduces and becomes fir.

problem solved!

Go, go. I’ll wait for you. Go.

Lucy, honey

Ok look. This is probably for the best, you know?

Independence.

Taking control of your life.

Finally, another thing natives commonly do is reduce the pronoun you.

so the phrase you think just becomes y’think.

Sarcasm?

you think?

let’s listen again to Morty’s whole phrase and practice by repeating after him.

I have to make a project for the science fair this weekend. You think you could help me out?

I have to make a project for the science fair this weekend. You think you could help me out?

Whatever.

as you can see here, the word whatever is used to say that something is not important or makes no difference.

for us looks like he’s saying being horrible whatever and i’m not sure whatever dude whatever piece god bless

Ross?

Yeah?

Looks like he’s playing baseball.

You mean hardball?

Whatever.

And I’m not you “bro”.

Whatever dude, whatever.

Peace, God bless.

Here, we can also hear another common example of connected speech.

Let’s listen to it again:

Whatever.

in cases like this one, the basic rule is that when a T sound is surrounded by two vowel sounds, the T becomes a soft D, so instead of saying whatever, Rick says whatever.

some other examples of this type of sound morphing are: Bitter [Bi-der]

come together [come-duh-gether]

if you pay attention, you’ll notice that natives do this all the time and it is such a common occurrence that they even forget that it exists at all.

Let’s listen to some more examples:

don’t I look silly sitting here wearing this?

Look, Mommy, a butterfly.

Maddening.

I’ve been doing this 10 years and I haven’t gotten anywhere.

there’s gotta be a reason.

Come on, man, you’re just a you’re just paying your dues.

Well, I mean, traditionally science fairs are a father-son thing.

traditions are ways of doing things that have been passed down through generations, like brides wearing white dresses or having candles on birthday cakes.

So, if you use the adverb traditionally you mean that you do something according to a tradition.

Jerry is saying that according to tradition, dads help their kids to prepare their projects for school fairs, and for that reason he wants to help him.

Well, I mean, traditionally science fairs are a father-son thing.

by the way, it can be common to hear variations of this expression.

for example, you might hear of a father-son picnic, a mother-daughter brunch, or a father-daughter dance.

Well, scientifically, traditions are an idiot thing.

the adverbs scientifically means “according to science”.

As you can see in these two cases, adverbs are used to modify verbs and give us more information (and you can easily identify them by the common ending “-ly”).

the word idiot usually refers to someone foolish, that does stupid things.

Dad, you might wanna see this.

He out us on YouTube?

He called it “Drone 1, idiot 0”

it has 32,000 views.

we have to strike back.

that drone just messed with the wrong idiot.

so basically, Rick thinks that doing something because of tradition is foolish.

Morty, I think it would be fun for you to work on a science project with your Dad.

Morty’s mom sent him a text and secretly explain to him that Jerry had doubts about being smart. she does it in order to convince Morty to work on the project with his dad.

Yeah, dad. why don’t we do it together?

Yes! You backed the right horse on this one, son.

the expression back the right horse is used to say that you made the right decision and supported a person or something that is later successful.

if you want to mean the opposite, you should say “backed the wrong horse”.

here are some more examples: you’ll be wiping off that mustard with our wipes at the picnic!

That’s “she’ll be coming around the mountain”.

I know! I steal everything.

you backed the wrong horse. I got nothing.

Pierce, you’re musical. your creative.

you can do this. I believe in you.

Oh, Johnny, did you back the wrong horse?

Will you hose him, please?

Hose him.

Yeah, dad. why don’t we do it together?

Yes! You backed the right horse on this one, son.

By saying on this one, Jerry refers the decision over who would help Morty in the science fair project.

We’ll get out the crayons, brew some coffee, and knock this thing out in two or three days.

Crayons are the sticks of colored wax used by kids for drawing or writing.

the word brew can be used to refer to many drinks (such as coffee, tea or beer).

if you brew something you basically make its flavor more intense by letting it sit it in boiling water.

this slang phrase knock something out can be used to say that you’ll get that thing done.

I wav your widdle outfit.

Listen you, riding in an ambulance takes care of my community service so I’m doing two shift back-to-back. I’m gonna knock this whole thing out in a single day.

Besides, how bad can it be?

Jerry’s saying that they’ll finish the project in two or three days (when with the help of Rick it could probably be finished in a few minutes instead).

What is my purpose?

Pass the butter.

if you have a purpose to do something, you have a reason for doing it, or in a deeper sense, a reason to exist.

Example, he learnt Chinese for the express purpose of starting a business there.

the purpose of his life was to help others. so here, the robot that Rick just finished building is asking him what is his reason to exist.

What is my purpose?

Pass the butter.

Rick has built this robot with the sole purpose of passing the butter.

that is, grabbing the butter and giving it to him. this is a common expression you can use to be polite when eating a meal with other people.

a What is my purpose?

Pass the butter.

here we can have another example the American T.

how did Rick pronounce this word?

Butter

That’s right. As we’ve previously mentioned, in cases like this one, the T becomes a soft D.

Let’s listen again to the sentence and repeat his pronunciation.

pass the butter

thank you

Dad, I need a ride to work.

Maybe Rick can give you a ride.

I’m helping Morty with science.

if you say that you need a ride somewhere, you mean that you need someone to drive you somewhere.

Example, I missed the bus so I need a ride to the University.

Do you know another way you can say this phrase?

the phrase give a ride (to someone) means to take someone somewhere.

So, as you can see here, you can need a ride and ask someone to give you a ride.

So, uh, when do you leave for the base?

Oh, my train leaves as 4:00

I’ll give you a ride to the station.

Thanks.

are you sure you don’t want me to give you a ride to the airport?

No, Alan’s sending a limo.

He’s a class act.

I’m busy.

Doing what?

Uh, anything else.

this means any difference for alternative option.

what Rick means is that he would rather do anything other than have to take Summer to school.

Let’s look at some other examples of the use of else:

there is nothing except this.

there’s no art opening. there is no benefit. there was nothing to sign. There is the next mission and nothing else.

Right out into the middle of traffic and I started really running after it.

and then it just suddenly stopped, right in the middle of the street.

Mm-hm. And did anyone else see this happen?

Well, sure, hundreds of people.

No, no, don’t shoot my friends.

Anybody else in here with you?

No, just us.

we’re all civilized people. let’s just put the guns down.

What is my purpose?

you pass butter

oh my god. Yeah, welcome to the club, pal.

this expression is used for telling someone that you can understand an unpleasant situation they are facing because you are going through the same one.

the humor here is that after asking twice for his purpose, and finding out that is for something very unimportant, the robot might be implying that he is how having some sort of existential crisis, and for this reason Rick can relate to it.

Pal is another way of saying friend.

Example, we are best pals.

hey Rick

I have to make a project for the science fair this weekend.

you think you could help me out?

whatever

well, I mean, traditionally science fairs or a father-son thing.

Well, scientifically, traditions are an idiot thing.

Morty, I think it would be fun for you to work on a science project with your Dad.

Yeh, Dad. why don’t we do it together?

Yes! you backed the right horse on this one, son.

We’ll get out the crayons, brew some coffee, and knock this thing out in two or three days.

What is my purpose?

pass the butter.

Thank you.

Dad, I need a ride to work.

Maybe Rick can give you a ride.

I’m helping Morty tea with science.

I’m busy.

Doing what?

Uh, anything else.

What is my purpose?

you pass butter.

Oh, my god.

Yeah, welcome to the club, pal.