The scene: Ronald Reagan (R) has invited his predecessors in office Jimmy
Carter (C), Gerald Ford (F) and
Richard Nixon (N) for a game of cards at the White House.
R: Well, it’s good old Gerry Ford. Come on in, Gerry,
we’ve been waiting for you. Dick and Jimmy are already
here.
F: Sorry I'm late, Ronnie, but I couldn’t find the house (!).
R: Well, this is the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
F: I went to 1500.
R: Well, that's all right. Oh listen, watch out for the ....... china!
F: Hi Dick, hi Jimmy!
C: (Carter’s southern accent is a bit hard
to understand!) Hallo (or: hi?) Gerry, how are you all, you ol’ dingbat?
N: Sit down, Gerry. Let’s get this show on the road.
R: Well, all right. Now the name of the game is draw poker.
C: I fold.
R: I
didn't deal the cards yet, Jimmy.
C: I fold anyway. Nothing goes ever right for me.
N: If there’s one thing I
can’t stand it’s a crybaby.
C: Oh, all right, I’ll
take a chance.
R: Now let’s ante up.
Here we go.
C: Wait a minute, the pot’s a nickle short.
N: Well, what's everyone looking at me for? - Oh for goodness sake, it
must have got stuck in my coin changer.
Deal them
out, I feel really lucky.
R: All right, who wants to
start it off?
C: Well, I open for a dime, but I know I’m gonna lose.
N: I’m in.
R: Well, it’s up to you,
Gerry.
F: Gimme all your eights.
R: No, Gerry, we are not
playing fish.
N: Don’t explain anything
to him. Throw in your dime, Gerry.
R: All right, boys. I’ll
see that dime and raise you a quarter just to keep you honest.
C: (gloating) It's too late for Dick.
R: Fellas, please! We are here to play cards. I just raised you a quarter.
C: Okay, I'll see you.
N: I’m in, too.
R: Well, what do you say,
Gerry?
F: I'll knock with five.
N: Gerry, we are not playing gin, we are playing poker, you imbecile.
R: Dick, please! You are speaking to a former President of the United
States.
N: You are right. Pardon me,
Gerry.
F: I already did (!).
R: Listen, are you guys
gonna play cards or not?
F: Well, that’s not air.
Why do I only have five cards when Dick has ten?
N: What
ten? What are you talking about?
F: Five in your hand and
five up your sleeve.
C: (telling on “Tricky Dick”) I(’ve)
seen him, I(’ve) seen him!
N: Oh/(hold?) just a minute. I wanna make one thing perfectly clear. I am
not a crook*). (The other players
leave
the room,
banging the door behind them.) Ronnie, Gerry, Jimmy.
Gerry, fellas, come back. Come back I
wanna play. I've
got five aces. Won't anybody play with me? Pardon me, lady, little boy, baby
........ Come
here, boy
.....................
*)
"'m not a crook": www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxeFMHyOx3I
Nixon resigns: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XqMgFroU64&feature=related
ANNOTATIONS:
1)1600
Pennsylvania Avenue: address of The White House (1500 Pennsylvania Avenue:
address of The Treasury)
2) china: Porzellan
3) to watch out for: aufpassen auf
(distinguish between “watch out” = aufpassen, auf etwas
achten and “to pay attention”: im Unterricht etc, aufpassen)
4) dingbat (slang): an eccentric, silly or emptyheaded person = Trottel
5) to fold: (hier) passen (beim Kartenspiel)
6) crybaby: Heulsuse
7) to ante up: seinen
Einsatz machen, setzen
8) nickel = 5 cents (dime = 10 cents, quarter = 25 cents)
9) to play fish (slang): fish (here) an incompetent player whose
incompetence can be exploited = (etwa)
“blutiger Anfänger”
10) to gloat: Schadenfreude empfinden
11) imbecile: beschränkter Mensch, Dummkopf,
Schwachkopf (LATIN: imbecillus: schwach)
12) Pardon me, Gerry: PUN on the two meanings of the word “pardon”: Verzeihung ↔ begnadigen, amnestieren
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