Daily Dialogue — October 20, 2012

[Clark is looking at lingerie, as a voluptuous saleswoman approaches]

Mary: Can I help you with anything?
Clark: Oh, I was just smelling — smiling. I was just blouse — brousing.
Mary: For your wife? For your girlfriend?
Clark: Uh… huh? What happened? I, uh, heh heh. Well, I guess it just wouldn’t… Oh hee hee, it wouldn’t be the Christmas shopping season if the stores were any less hooter than they — HOTTER than they are. Whew. It is warm in here, isn’t it?
Mary: You have your coat on.
Clark: Yes, oh do I? How’d that happen?
Mary: Because it’s cold out?
Clark: Yes, Yes, it is a bit nipply out. I mean ‘nippy out.’ What am I saying, nipple? Ah, there is a nip in the air, though.

— Mary (Nicolette Scorsese), Clark (Chevy Chase), Christmas Vacation (1989), written by John Hughes

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is tongue-tied, suggested by Annika Wood. Today’s suggestion by DJ Holloway.

Trivia: The movie is based on John Hughes’ short story “Christmas ‘59”, the second Vacation story to be published in National Lampoon’s Magazine (the first was “Vacation ‘58”, which was the basis for the first Vacation movie). The Christmas story was printed in December 1980. The label on the home movie reel that Clark finds in the attic is labeled “Xmas ‘59,” a further allusion.

Dialogue On Dialogue: DJ’s commentary: “The takeaway for screenwriting is to push — Hughes doesn’t settle for one joke, or a simple setup and punchline. He keeps the gag going, never letting us off the hook to catch our breath. I also love how he punctuates the joke with the “No shit” line as it’s such a contrast to the bumbling language before it.”