It's worse than that it's dead Jim

Status
Not open for further replies.

fenglish

Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2009
Member Type
Other
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
China
Hi,

What does the "it's dead Jim" mean in the following sentence?

It's worse than that it's dead Jim

I found it from this Youtube:


I will explain it as (but I'm not sure):
It's worse than that it's totally dead

Thanks.
 

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
Removing the unnecessary capitals, and inserting the correct punctuation, it should be It's worse than that – he's dead, Jim.

He's not just sick – he's dead.
 

fenglish

Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2009
Member Type
Other
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
China
Removing the unnecessary capitals, and inserting the correct punctuation, it should be It's worse than that – he's dead, Jim.

He's not just sick – he's dead.
If a man or a woman called "ExampleName", does it need to replace the "Jim" with the real name "ExampleName"?

A: It's worse than that it's dead Jim.
B: It's worse than that it's dead ExampleName.

Which is correct when talking to ExampleName?
 

dunchee

Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2018
Location
Massachusetts, MA
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
United States
It's a reference to a famous line uttered by Dr. McCoy from the TV show Star Trek: The Original Series:

"Jim" is the Captain of the starship.

Its meaning is what Rover said in post #2.

The YouTube clip you posted is about "the battery on an old synth"(I copied it from the description below the clip) and "it" in "it's dead" refers to the battery. So basically the guy is saying the condition of the battery is really bad. There's no point in keeping it. Just replace it.
If a man or a woman called "ExampleName", does it do I need to replace the "Jim" with the real name "ExampleName"?

A: It's worse than that it's dead Jim. It's worse than that – it's dead, Jim.
B:
It's worse than that it's dead ExampleName. It's worse than that – it's dead, ExampleName.
It only works if you and the person you talk to are Star Trek fans. (And you know what "it" is.)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top