"Kevin, do you have something/anything to say?"

[milan2003_07]

In the film "Home Alone 2. Lost in New York" there is a Christmas pageant at the beginning of the movie.

Kevin had often been ridiculed by his elder siblings, and during the concert Kevin's elder brother Buzz framed him by artificially putting small candlesticks close to Kevin's ears while Kevin was singing his solo to make fun of Kevin. Everybody in the audience hall noticed Buzz doing that and started laughing loudly. Later, at home, Buzz apologized to the whole family (in fact, his apologies weren't really sincere, as we can find out out later). Nevertheless, after Buzz's apologies, Kevin's mother asked Kevin:

"Kevin, do you have something to say?"

Why didn't she say "Kevin, do you have anything to say?"

All the family were waiting for Kevin's response to Buzz's "apologies".

BTW, I'm not 100% sure Kevin had to apologize, too. Yes, he pushed Buzz after noticing Buzz making fun of Kevin, but Kevin had been provoked. I believe more pity had to be shown for Kevin.

 

[jutfrank]

This seems to me to be an excellent example of why we use 'some' in questions rather than 'any'.

The reason she uses it is that she has Kevin's coming apology clearly in mind. Moreover, she aims to put it in his mind too.

It's quite possible that I've misinterpreted what she means but I hope I haven't. We can only be certain by seeing and hearing the wider context. What does Kevin say immediately after this?

 

[milan2003_07]

This seems to me to be an excellent example of why we use 'some' in questions rather than 'any'.

The reason she uses it is that she has Kevin's coming apology in clearly mind. Furthermore, she aims to put it in his mind too.

It's quite possible that I've misinterpreted what she means but I hope I haven't. We can only be certain by seeing and hearing the wider context. What does Kevin say immediately after this?

After this Kevin says that he isn't going to apologize because Buzz has humiliated him. He adds that all the people who have gathered shouldn't have trusted Buzz's apologies.

 

[jutfrank]

Okay, so I was exactly right.

 

[milan2003_07]

After apologizing, Buzz said "Beat that, you little trout sniffer" and no one else heard that other than Kevin. Kevin had been insulted and didn't want to apologize to Buzz after such words.

 

[jutfrank]

Poor Kevin. So unfair.

By the way, I find it utterly charming that Home Alone 2 is your favourite movie.

 

[milan2003_07]

Yes, Home Alone 2 is my favorite movie. I first watched it when I was about 12 in 1998 or 1999, don't remember exactly. At that time, I had no Internet and so watched the film on a video cassette in Russian. Several years later I saw it in English, which was fantastic. Same for Home Alone 1 and Home Alone 3 - all these movies are absolutely terrific!

When we watch movies in English, we learn a lot! I know I can trust the language and learn lots of new words and expressions! Also, I see how they're used in the context, which is probably even more important and interesting!

Luckily, several web-sites offer a wide range of AE and BE movies with subtitles and this is also a good way of understanding the speach by hearing it. The live speech and the speech on the screen are slightly different. Live speech is easier to understand for me. The screen speech is a bit more difficult.

 

[Tarheel]

Often the captions (subtitles) are a bit off. It's as if they think nobody is going to read them.

 

[Rover_KE]

Subtitles/captions are primarily intended to help people with hearing difficulties to follow the action. They are not always word-for-word transcriptions of the screenplay/script.

 

[Tarheel]

The captions are to help you understand what the person said. They are, of course, not as helpful if they are inaccurate. For example, "Pfizer" and "FISA" are two different things. I guess they can't afford to pay somebody to proofread them.

 

[milan2003_07]

Thanks for your opinion! I've never thought that subtitles are for people with hearing difficulties, but I think you're right! Anyway, subtitles help them, no doubt!

I have been watching American and British films for a long time and I have often used subtitles. I learn more efficiently when I see them. To learn words in the context is probably the best thing to do!

 

[Tarheel]

They are helpful if you have trouble understanding what is being said.