[Vocabulary] Where is the booze? flowing like mud around here.

[atabitaraf]

Al Pacino in 'Scent of a woman' occasionally says:
"Where is the booze? flowing like mud around here."
(usually when he wants to drink)
What is the meaning of the last sentence? 'flowing like mud...'?
Thanks,

 

[5jj]

Mud flows, if it flows at all, very slowly. Al's character is saying that he wants more booze more quickly.

 

[atabitaraf]

Mud flows, if it flows at all, very slowly. Al's character is saying that he wants more booze more quickly.

Thanks, but I couldn't make a sense about it. It may say: 'Where is the booze, the waiters are flowing like mud around here and don't do it fast'. Do I understand it well?

 

[5jj]

Thanks, but I couldn't make a sense about it. It may say: 'Where is the booze, the waiters are flowing like mud around here and don't do it fast'. Do I understand it well?

That's not the sentence you quoted first. What is actually said in the film?

 

[atabitaraf]

The first sentence is what said in the movie: 'Where is the booze? flowin' like mud around here' (movie)
The second sentence is my understanding: 'flowing refers to waiters' (mine)

 

[5jj]

The first sentence is what said in the movie: 'Where is the booze? flowin' like mud around here' (movie)
The second sentence is my understanding: 'flowing refers to waiters' (mine)

Your understanding is, I think, incorrect. We speak of drink flowing (freely), not waiters. In this case the drink is flowing very slowly indeed.

When we speak of drink flowing (freely), we are saying that there is plenty of drink freely available.

 

[atabitaraf]

You know the story is this:
Al wants to get some alcoholic drinks but he rushes.
He is waiting for waiters and there still is nothing available for him to drink so he says: 'Where is the booze? flowing like mud around here'
In this context there is no drink in front of Al so if we say the verb 'flowing' refers to the booze, it's hard to understand
Thank you,

 

[Barb_D]

Do not try to be too literal with this statement. The usual experssion refers to the booze flowing freely. That doesn't mean it's running across the floor. It just means there is a lot, easily available. The character is simply using a simile about something that does NOT flow freely (easily) at all.

 

[SoothingDave]

I

n this context there is no drink in front of Al​

Which is exactly his complaint! I tend to say something like "This would be a great place to open a bar!"

 

[BobK]

;-) This often happens - changing one word for comic effect. Like 'Who did this? I'd like to shake him warmly by the throat'. [You're expecting 'hand'].

b

 

[BobK]

Another example of this word-switching came from a friend of mine who had been working on a project that never got out of the design stage. At the end of another frustrating day, he said 'Another day, another document' [The expected word there is 'dollar' - 'Another day, another dollar' usually means something like 'OK, that's it. I've done a decent day's work - enough to get paid, anyway' {Note: I may have got the meaning wrong; as 'dollar' suggests, it comes from a culture that isn't mine}.]

And I've just realized, the original 'like <fluid>' expression refers to lavish hospitality: 'The wine flowed like water'.

b