They're not your thing. They're anything.
Hello.
In an American sci-fi video game, Parker and Miguel just saved the world and are having a little banter about time-travel. At one point Miguel suggests something rather stupid.
Parker: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Bad plans are totally my thing.
Miguel: You don't own plans. They're not your thing. They're anything.
Parker: Well, maybe if you were just to explain it right. You're from the future. You're supposed to have all these cool time things. Maybe you should just talk faster. I don't know.
You can listen to this piece of dialogue for yourself (as I had to transcribe it myself): https://vocaroo.com/dvPCUi4mTZT
Does "They're anything." make any sense to you? If so, could you, please, explain to me what Miguel means?
Thank you.
Search from various English teachers...
Answers · 7
0
Good question. It does sound a bit like “anything”, which wouldn’t make sense. In fact, he says they’re “a thing”, with contrastive stress on the word “a”, emphasizing the contrast with “your”. The pronunciation is a bit nasal, so it does sound a little like “any”. Also, the emphatic pronunciation of “a” as /ei/ is not universal — some people (like me) prefer /ʌ/ as the emphatic pronunciation. The usual pronunciation of the indefinite article is just a schwa — since it’s rarely stressed, the “correct” stressed pronunciation is not really knowable.
0
I think what they're saying is "puns" instead of "plans" - a pun is a play on words that uses words that sound alike but have different meanings.
That said, I still don't understand what Miguel is saying. I expect it's meant to be a play on words ("your thing" vs. "a thing") but the joke isn't clear to me.
0
Thank you, Nanren888- !
0
as below.
puns
They're a thing.
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