You know where you stand, with a boot?
Context：（Again from Sir Terry Pratchett’s Moving Pictures）
“He’s in love,” said Gaspode. “It’s very tricky.”
“Yeah, I know how it ish,” said the cat sympathetically. “People throwing old boots and things at you.”
“Old boots?” said the mouse.
“That’sh what’s always happened to me when I’ve been in love,” said Cat wistfully.
“It’s different for humans,” said Gaspode uncertainly. “You don’t get so many boots and buckets of water thrown at you. It’s more, er, flowers and arguing and stuff.”
The animals looked glumly at one another.
“I’ve watched ’em,” said Squeak. “She thinks he’s a idiot.”
“That’s all part of it,” added Gaspode. “They call it romance.”
Cat shrugged. “Give me a boot every time. You know where you stand, with a boot.” Question：Give me a boot every time? You know where you stand, with a boot? What does it mean? The cat certainly wants to be funny, right? But what is the funny point?

Question

You know where you stand, with a boot?
Context：（Again from Sir Terry Pratchett’s Moving Pictures）
“He’s in love,” said Gaspode. “It’s very tricky.” 
“Yeah, I know how it ish,” said the cat sympathetically. “People throwing old boots and things at you.” 
“Old boots?” said the mouse.
 “That’sh what’s always happened to me when I’ve been in love,” said Cat wistfully. 
“It’s different for humans,” said Gaspode uncertainly. “You don’t get so many boots and buckets of water thrown at you. It’s more, er, flowers and arguing and stuff.” 
The animals looked glumly at one another. 
“I’ve watched ’em,” said Squeak. “She thinks he’s a idiot.”
 “That’s all part of it,” added Gaspode. “They call it romance.”
Cat shrugged. “Give me a boot every time. You know where you stand, with a boot.” Question：Give me a boot every time? You know where you stand, with a boot? What does it mean? The cat certainly wants to be funny, right? But what is the funny point?

Answer

The cat in the story is saying that he knows what to expect when he's in love, a boot thrown at him, because cats are loud when they mate and something may be thrown at them to stop the noise. The mouse tells him that when humans are in love it is not so simple and involves gifts, fights, and dishonesty. 
So the cat saying "Give me a boot every time. You know where you stand with a boot." means that he prefers the predicable outcome of cat 'love', over the unpredictable outcome of human love.
The term "you know where you stand" means "you know what to expect".  The funny part is that humans don't know what to expect when they are in love, the joke is about the complexity of human romance.

Answers · 2

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