not in the prisoner-taking business but in the.... business

[navi tasan]

You probably heard we ain't in the prisoner-takin' business; we in the killin' Nazi business.

This line is from the movie:
Inglourious Besterds

Source:

Inglourious Basterds (2009) - Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine - IMDb

Inglourious Basterds (2009) - Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine

www.imdb.com

I don't expect that character to speak grammatical standard English (he has a heavy regional accent and seems to use certain regionalisms), and I don't mean to criticize the script or anything. But I was just wondering if "the killing Nazi business' was grammatically correct in standard English. I'd have said 'Nazi-killing business' or 'the business of killing Nazis' or maybe 'the killing-of-Nazis business' (with hyphens), although the last one does seem a bit of stretch to me.

What do you think?

 

[PeterCW]

The scriptwriter gives the line its dramatic impact by using the same grammatical construct for both halves. Anything else would change the rhythm of the actor's delivery.

I would have written "Nazi killing" which is why I was wise to stick to non-fiction.

 

[SoothingDave]

"Prisoner taking" and Nazi killing" are parallel constructions and what one would normally expect.

I think the use of "Killing Nazi" makes for a more emphatic delivery. "Nazi killing" flows together in a way "killing Nazi" doesn't. It puts the "killing" first, which emphasizes the action and allows the "Nazi" to be spit out with contempt.