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Mishearing Dialogue

Oiling my traps isn't it? :crazy:

Well, there have been many authors and Star Trek analysts who have devoted virtual or actual ink to the "HAR HAR LOOK WHAT THEY GOT PAST THE CENSORS" take on this, but the way that Barbara Luna says the words, I'm not sure it wasn't "Only my traps, darling," which makes much more sense and is not comically racy. I'm sure someone has a draft script with "Oiling my traps" in it but to my ear, she clearly says "only."
 
Well, there have been many authors and Star Trek analysts who have devoted virtual or actual ink to the "HAR HAR LOOK WHAT THEY GOT PAST THE CENSORS" take on this, but the way that Barbara Luna says the words, I'm not sure it wasn't "Only my traps, darling," which makes much more sense and is not comically racy. I'm sure someone has a draft script with "Oiling my traps" in it but to my ear, she clearly says "only."

I hope Maurice or someone can find the script, because it's hardly a common expression any way you hear it.
 
I hope Maurice or someone can find the script, because it's hardly a common expression any way you hear it.

I figured it was a variant of "only the trappings" with a bit of poetic flourish. In other words, after Marlena changes and walks back in, and Kirk looks her over with obvious appreciation, she's saying, in effect, "This is only the surface of my appeal to you."
 
Even today, after all my decades of Star Trek fandom, I can still learn something new about tos from the trek bbs. this is kind of the opposite of this thread's intent but...

In "Balance of Terror", when the centurion says something like "Our portion is obedience.", I was always convinced that I was mishearing the word portion but I could never figure out what the word actually was.

Only a few weeks ago, I forget what thread it was, someone brought up that line from BoT and I finally found out I had heard the word portion correctly all along. I had never known another definition of the word was something like fate or destiny that is in effect, what the centurion was saying was "Our fate or lot in life is obedience".

On a different tack, in The Doomsday Machine, when Decker says 'It's got a maw that could swallow a dozen starships', I know what he means by the word maw but I always imagine he sounds like a hillbilly hick describing how big the doomsday machine's mother is.


Robert
 
@hofner yeah that was me. :)

Also:

“Dagger of the Mind” when Van Gelder says “you smug button pushing brass hat” to Kirk, I actually had to buy the VHS tape and hit closed captioning to figure out he wasn’t saying “your smug button pushing breath!”
 
At the start of 'The Cage', where Spock says "Check the circuit", what is his next line? Is it "Can't be the screen then" or "Comm beam to screen then"?

I thought it was "...convey to screen...," as in try to put the message on screen, and Spock, who early on was supposed to have some issues with English, according to some sources, says "con-vee." Right after that they speculate that the meteoroids were causing the issue, but then find out it is a radio wave, that would thus not be visible on screne.
 
@hofner yeah that was me. :)

Also:

“Dagger of the Mind” when Van Gelder says “you smug button pushing brass hat” to Kirk, I actually had to buy the VHS tape and hit closed captioning to figure out he wasn’t saying “your smug button pushing breath!”
I didn't know VHS could switch on/off subtitles?
 
Actual spring-loaded metal traps need the movable parts oiled from time to time. That's how you get rid of rust, too.
I could never figure out exactly what Marlena meant by that expression as a metaphor, though.

Kor
 

Right. And she does make a reference to "hunting fresh game" later. Oof. Truly one of the weirdest lines in all of Star Trek.
 
Well, remember that the writer of the script, Jerome Bixby, was born in 1923. Although I'm sure trapping still goes on today, it was probably a lot more prevalent in the era he grew up in.

Sir Rhosis
 
At the start of 'The Cage', where Spock says "Check the circuit", what is his next line? Is it "Can't be the screen then" or "Comm beam to screen then"?
It's "Can't be the screen, then." Spock's character at this point was very sketchy. Originally Nimoy was going to use a clipped, pseudo-British accent (hence the broad "A") to suggest English wasn't Spock's native language and that he had learned it through formal instruction.

As for Marlena's line in "Mirror, Mirror," you can hear it at the 32:44 mark. It's definitely "Oiling my traps, darling."

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Actual spring-loaded metal traps need the movable parts oiled from time to time. That's how you get rid of rust, too.
I could never figure out exactly what Marlena meant by that expression as a metaphor, though.
I always assumed she meant she was switching from Starfleet officer mode to lover mode and polishing (or lubricating, if you will) her seduction skills.
 
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