The Two Ronnies, "Crossed Lines"

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birdeen's call

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I've just watched a sketch by The Two Ronnies entitled Crossed Lines. I understood annoyingly little of it. Could you please help me? The video is here.

At 1:10, Corbett says, "Bloomers too large." What did he mean by that? I know bloomers are a kind of underwear and that makes it a joke, but he was talking about something else, right?

At 3:05, he says, "I thought it said 'Oxo'." What does it have to do with a cross-your-heart bra? What does "the opportunity to have a quick butcher's" mean, and why is it funny? And again, what does it have to do with Oxo?

What does a dog leaping into someone's lap have to do with apples?

At 3:53, what's the joke about? I understand he's talking about apples when he says "Cox's Pippins". I think the joke is that it sounds like something else, but I'm not sure what. I can't come up with anything that sounds the same and makes sense. "Cox's" sounds like "cocks his", but that doesn't ring any bells. Is it a sex reference?
 

Raymott

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I've just watched a sketch by The Two Ronnies entitled Crossed Lines. I understood annoyingly little of it. Could you please help me? The video is here.

At 1:10, Corbett says, "Bloomers too large." What did he mean by that? I know bloomers are a kind of underwear and that makes it a joke, but he was talking about something else, right?
Yes he was. He's going through a list of things he tried get at Sainsbury's (a department store).
Bloomers (2, large). I'm not sure what this British idiom is. It could mean flowers - 2 large, blooming flowers.


At 3:05, he says, "I thought it said 'Oxo'." What does it have to do with a cross-your-heart bra? What does "the opportunity to have a quick butcher's" mean, and why is it funny? And again, what does it have to do with Oxo?
I believe "a butcher's" = "a butcher's hook" = "a look" in rhyming slang. The opporunity to have a quick look.
OXO is meant to be a visual symbol for a cross-your-heart bra. I can explain further if necessary.


What does a dog leaping into someone's lap have to do with apples?
Not sure about this. I think it was just a transition setting up for a few more gags.

At 3:53, what's the joke about? I understand he's talking about apples when he says "Cox's Pippins". I think the joke is that it sounds like something else, but I'm not sure what. I can't come up with anything that sounds the same and makes sense. "Cox's" sounds like "cocks his", but that doesn't ring any bells. Is it a sex reference?
The dog jumps into your lap and cocks his pippins. This is the Two Ronnies. It's almost certainly a sex reference of some sort, but I'm not sure what "pippins" are (apart from apples). If you've got a weird enough mind, it probably doesn't matter.
Hope that's helped a little.
 

Rover_KE

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Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
bloomer2
nounBrit. a large loaf with diagonal slashes on a rounded top.

There's a picture of one here, but you've to go to the bottom of page 13 to find it.

Rover
 

birdeen's call

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Thank you both. Now that I understand the Oxo joke, it's very well written, but I wouldn't have understood it ever without your help.
 

SoothingDave

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I'm sure I wouldn't get the joke either. This is the only "Oxxo" I know:

images
 

BobK

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I've just watched a sketch by The Two Ronnies entitled Crossed Lines. I understood annoyingly little of it. Could you please help me? The video is here.

At 1:10, Corbett says, "Bloomers too large." What did he mean by that? I know bloomers are a kind of underwear and that makes it a joke, but he was talking about something else, right?

At 3:05, he says, "I thought it said 'Oxo'." What does it have to do with a cross-your-heart bra? What does "the opportunity to have a quick butcher's" mean, and why is it funny? And again, what does it have to do with Oxo?

What does a dog leaping into someone's lap have to do with apples?

At 3:53, what's the joke about? I understand he's talking about apples when he says "Cox's Pippins". I think the joke is that it sounds like something else, but I'm not sure what. I can't come up with anything that sounds the same and makes sense. "Cox's" sounds like "cocks his", but that doesn't ring any bells. Is it a sex reference?

The joke (not a rib-tickler, in my estimation) is that the two conversations are not related, so when RC says 'Bloomers, 2, large' (repeating a shopping list, and referring to a sort of loaf) we interpret it as 'Bloomers, too large'; it doesn't pay to follow the logic too closely (and ask 'Why does RB hear that?'). This was a sketch written for a prime-time Saturday evening slot, and RB's material typically relied on a joke-like form.

Raymott has put you on the right track with 'OXO' and 'butcher's 'ook/look. You're right about the pun at 3.53 being on 'cocks his' - but the reference is not sexual. The action of a dog raising its hind leg to urinate is known as 'cocking its leg'. In fact, the phrase is so closely associated with urine that 'cocks his leg' (said) of a dog is a sort of euphemism. RB was well enough educated to know the French faire pipi, and I imagine - although the audience weren't expected to pick up this reference - that made him favour the phrase 'Cox's Pippins'.

b

PS ( Have you found the 'fork 'andles' sketch? That one is so famous and well-loved that at his funeral (last year, I think) RB's coffin was surrounded by four candles.)
 

bhaisahab

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The joke (not a rib-tickler, in my estimation) is that the two conversations are not related, so when RC says 'Bloomers, 2, large' (repeating a shopping list, and referring to a sort of loaf) we interpret it as 'Bloomers, too large'; it doesn't pay to follow the logic too closely (and ask 'Why does RB hear that?'). This was a sketch written for a prime-time Saturday evening slot, and RB's material typically relied on a joke-like form.

Raymott has put you on the right track with 'OXO' and 'butcher's 'ook/look. You're right about the pun at 3.53 being on 'cocks his' - but the reference is not sexual. The action of a dog raising its hind leg to urinate is known as 'cocking its leg'. In fact, the phrase is so closely associated with urine that 'cocks his leg' (said) of a dog is a sort of euphemism. RB was well enough educated to know the French faire pipi, and I imagine - although the audience weren't expected to pick up this reference - that made him favour the phrase 'Cox's Pippins'.

b

PS ( Have you found the 'fork 'andles' sketch? That one is so famous and well-loved that at his funeral (last year, I think) RB's coffin was surrounded by four candles.)

RB died in 2005. RC is, to the best of my knowledge, still with us.
 

BobK

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More and more people seem to be doing it nowadays - it's hard to keep track.:oops: (You're right about RC.)

b
 
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