7) Internal Combustion
A: Man B: Woman ("Car")
“Internal
Combustion”, a piece written by David
Frost [NOW “Sir” David Frost!], a well-known TV-personality of the
sixties, seventies and eighties, should appeal to those with a penchant for
the double entendre [sorry, for the hard words!!!], in other words to those
who, like Tom Lehrer, love SMUT !
A: The
British automobile industry has developed to the point where cars are of such a
shape and so on that … well, according to one report in the Observer
it said (quote) “…that cars seem to be taking the place of
[pause] women in British life. -
Yes … Lovely curves, I like the shape.
B: (in
a soothing, cooing, seductive voice) I’m
a nice car!
A: Yes.
How many cylinders have you got?
B: Two.
A: Good,
and you’re only 18 [pause] horsepower.
B: (slightly
worried, alarmed) No, no, no! Please, please,
don’t start!
A: What’s
wrong?
B: Well,
it’s been nice, don’t spoil everything.
A: Women!
B: I’m
sorry, I can’t help it.
A: Here,
have a can of oil!
B: You
just want to get me tanked up, don’t you? And then before I know where I am
you’ll be obtaining power for the
automatic clutch operation by making use of the partial vacuum in the engine
inlet manifold. (starts sobbing)
A: I
just want to take you for a drive.
B: I’m
sorry, but a girl’s got so much to lose. She’s never the same once she’s
been decarbonised.
A: Well,
I’m off then.
B: (pleading,
conciliatory) Oh no, don’t go! Just a little ride then, not
fast, be gentle with me. I haven’t got
shock absorbers.
A: Change
gear. Horn. (with the appropriate noises)
B: Oh,
I like that!
A: Now,
we’re going to do an S-curve.
B: (ecstatic)
Oh, do it again!
A: We’ll
be in the hedge. Let’s double-declutch, Mildred.
B: Oh
no, no, be patient with me. (promising) I may be later.
A: (technical
gobbledygook) That’s right. Keep yourself in a state of
independent front-wheel suspension, the disadvantage
of which is the heavy beam axle which is inconsistent with good road holding.
B: I
loved the way you said that.
A: You
know, you wouldn’t look too bad if you used a bit more anti-freeze.
B: Do
another double-bend!
A: It’s
kinky!
B: it’s
not. I like other things.
A: Such
as?
B: I
don’t like to say it.
A: Go
on.
B: I
like it when you move the gear lever and close the switch, thus energizing the
solenoid and causing the left-hand side of the piston to be exposed to the
partial vacuum in the reservoir.
A: You’ve
been driven by other men!
B: Well,
you have driven other women!
A: This
is not the same thing.
B: Oh,
why are you stopping? I’m not going into a lay-by with a strange man.
A: I’m
not stopping.
B: But
what are you doing then?
A: Reversing.
B: Pervert!
ANNOTATIONS:
some selected words and expressions:
to get (sb) tanked up: betrunken machen/“auftanken”; clutch: Kupplung; shock absorber: Stoßdämpfer; to change gear: schalten; horn: Hupe; to double-declutch [bei unsynchronisiertem Getriebe oder sportlicher Fahrweise]: beim Schalten zweimal die Kupplung betätigen/bzw. „Zwischengas geben“; suspension: Aufhängung; road holding: Straßenlage; anti-freeze: Frostschutzmittel; kinky: pervers, abartig; lay-by (BrE): Parkbucht; to reverse: rückwärts-fahren; [And now some words for automobile freaks/buffs: inlet manifold: Ansaugrohr; solenoid: Magnetspule; piston: Kolben (this is a basic word!)]
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