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Good evening, teachers!
I'd be very grateful if you could throw some light on the meaning of phrases "fullmetal wedding" and "halfmetal wedding". I've recently stumbled on them but have no clue what these might mean? I couldn't find information wherever I searched. Thank you.
Welcome to Using English.
What was the context in which you saw this? It has no meaning to me right now.
I saw it in a movie scene where there were a man and a woman talking about their forthcomming wedding. The dialogue followed something like that:
"Woman: Even if I say yes, it's still gonna
take time to pull together a wedding.
Man: Yeah? How about a month?
Woman: As in 30 days?
How are we gonna do that?
Man: Not having a full-metal wedding.
Ask anyone. They'll tell you it becomes about everyone other
than the two people actually getting married.
Woman: Yeah, my sister's wedding, no one
was speaking, but it was very pretty.
Can we at least have a half-metal wedding?"
There's no further context.
I think they've stolen the "full metal" part from "full metal jacket". That's a description of a particular type of bullet - look HERE
Those are particularly "serious" bullets, they do a lot of damage and are used in high velocity events.
I think the speaker is saying that a "full metal wedding" would be the type where no expense is spared, everything is very elaborate and nothing is missed out. The man doesn't want that kind of wedding, especially as it has to be organised in 30 days. He says that that kind of wedding ends up not being about the two people getting married but about the wedding itself.
The woman seems to agree but clearly her sister's wedding was a bit of a disaster, so she asks if they can have a "half metal wedding". That's not the full-blown type of event described as "full metal" but also not a very quiet, sedate affair - she wants something in between the two.
Full metal jackets actually travel through the target instead of stopping inside. Making them less destructive than regular ammunition. To say nothing of hollow point bullets, designed to stop inside of the target, delivering maximum kinetic impact.
Full metal jackets are best for semi- and full-auto weapons, as the jacket helps prevent jams in the mechanisms.
Thank you bouth for your suggestions and especially to emsr2d2 . You're right. Thank you so much for the help! I'm glad to join UsingEnglish.com :)