Not proper

[Inessavt]

"JOHN MAY: We’ve not had many serial killers at the Peculiar Crimes Unit, have we?
ARTHUR BRYANT: Not proper saw-off-the-arms-and-legs-boil-the-innards-put-the-head-in-a-Gucci-handbag-and-throw-it-from-a-bridge-jobs, no."

Does ARTHUR BRYANT mean that there are not any serial killers at all or there are only "saw-off-........-a-bridge-jobs" and no other types of killers?

 

[emsr2d2]

"JOHN MAY: We’ve not had many serial killers at the Peculiar Crimes Unit, have we?
ARTHUR BRYANT: Not proper saw-off-the-arms-and-legs-boil-the-innards-put-the-head-in-a-Gucci-handbag-and-throw-it-from-a-bridge-jobs, no."

Does Arthur Bryant [STRIKE]means[/STRIKE] mean that there are not any serial killers at all or there are only "saw-off-........-a-bridge-jobs" [strike]but[/strike] and no other types of killers?

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

Neither. It means that they have had some serial killers, but none of them has been the type to "saw-off-the-arms ... from-a-bridge". That's what he considers a "proper" (real/serious) serial killer does.

Note my corrections above.

 

[jutfrank]

The fact that you've put Not proper in bold tells me that you may be parsing the sentence incorrectly. Look at it like this:

Not proper saw-off-the-arms-and-legs-boil-the-innards-put-the-head-in-a-Gucci-handbag-and-throw-it-from-a-bridge-jobs, no.

The whole of the blue phrase, of which jobs is the head, is a noun phrase. The hyphenated bolded string is a single modifier.

The whole modifier-head phrase could be reduced to a single pronoun, like this:

Not proper ones, no.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

There had been no proper (meaning standard, ordinary, stereotypical, classic, textbook) serial murders.

He's being glib and witty.