you go, X

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GUEST2008

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Feb 20, 2008
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Hi

If somebody says: You go, John.

Does it mean: Move on, John. Go ahead, John. Or something like this?
 
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It could mean several things. More context would be helpful.
 
The narrator in a book says:

Intelligence was a nasty, dirty business and necessitated each side to get as filthy as the other. The only rule was there never had been any rules at all. No, actually he was wrong. There was one rule. People like Macklin Hayes (important general) did remain above it all. Untouchable. And yet that rule was not absolute. Look at Carter Gray. John Carr (the killer) had pulled him (Carter Gray) right down into the trench shit with him.

The character thinks to himself: You go, John.

Does it help?
 
Sorry. I read the whole extract, but it means nothing to me. Let's hope it means something to somebody else on this forum.
 
In AmE, "You go, X!" is an exclamation of support or encouragement. For example, it's quite common on some talk shows to hear audience members shout "You go, girl!" after a woman on the panel publicly chastises her husband for cheating on her. "You go, X!" is the modern equivalent of "right on!" :-D
 
Ouisch said:
In AmE, "You go, X!" is an exclamation of support or encouragement. For example, it's quite common on some talk shows to hear audience members shout "You go, girl!" after a woman on the panel publicly chastises her husband for cheating on her. "You go, X!" is the modern equivalent of "right on!" :-D
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Thanks for that, Ouisch. Armed with your information, I went back to the extract. It seems to fit, but still appears strange to me - a speaker of BrE who does not know the expression.

Does it sound natural to you in that extract?
 
Totally.

Ouisch, you go girl!
You go, Ouisch!

Same thing.
 
GUEST2008 said:
The narrator in a book says:

Intelligence was a nasty, dirty business and necessitated each side to get as filthy as the other. The only rule was there never had been any rules at all. No, actually he was wrong. There was one rule. People like Macklin Hayes (important general) did remain above it all. Untouchable. And yet that rule was not absolute. Look at Carter Gray. John Carr (the killer) had pulled him (Carter Gray) right down into the trench shit with him.

The character thinks to himself: You go, John.

Does it help?
Click to expand...

By the way: what does "trench shit" mean? Is it a single noun, or maybe the word "shit" just describes the trench meaning it is so bad, smelly and the such.
 
It's metaphorical. He had to "get dirty." Does that have any meaning to you when it's expressed that way in English?
 
Barb_D said:
It's metaphorical.
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The dirtiness is exaggerated by the addition of trench to the excrement. During the First World War, soldiers were often trapped in the trenches for long periods of time in appalling conditions. Everything was filthy and stinking, the accumulated excrement even more so.
 
Barb_D said:
Does that have any meaning to you when it's expressed that way in English?
Click to expand...

No, but because, as you said, it's metaphorical, I didn't get it and was curious. ;-)

Thanks guys!
 
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