what's the meaning of 'jingle keys'

Discussion:

(too old to reply)

Chris Chen

2006-07-15 04:26:04 UTC

Hi there,

just watched 1 episode of Family Guy, 'Family Guy - 75 - You May Now
Kiss the ... Uh ... Guy Who Receives'. the thing i don't understand is,
there was a protesting, and the mayor looked for diversions to it, at
the end of his list is 'Jingle Keys', then he walked to the window,
took out his keys, and made it sounds jingle to the protesting
crowds... i guess the mayor misunderstood the real meaning of 'jingle
keys' and did something stupid, but can someone tell me what's correct
version of 'jingle keys'? is this something to do with political
tricks?

Br,
Chris

tinwhistler

2006-07-15 04:39:39 UTC

Permalink

Post by Chris Chen
can someone tell me what's correct
version of 'jingle keys'? is this something to do with political
tricks?

This Wikipedia article discusses the scene you describe:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_May_Now_Kiss_The...Uh...Guy_Who_Receives

"...When people are protesting, Adam West uses his Political
Diversions List. It reads: Outlaw Flag Burning, Use Escape Pod,
Scapegoat the Jews, Suicide, Scapegoat the Blacks, Scapegoat the
French, Scapegoat the Jews again (Call them New Yorkers), start a war,
and Jingle Keys. He chooses "Jingle Keys"...."

Toys-R-Us sells "Jingle Keys," and I think any parent could tell
you it has reference to the fascination which jingling a bunch of keys
holds for an infant.

dontbother

2006-07-15 04:46:31 UTC

Permalink

Post by Chris Chen
Hi there,
just watched 1 episode of Family Guy, 'Family Guy - 75 - You May Now
Kiss the ... Uh ... Guy Who Receives'. the thing i don't understand is,
there was a protesting, and the mayor looked for diversions to it, at
the end of his list is 'Jingle Keys', then he walked to the window,
took out his keys, and made it sounds jingle to the protesting
crowds... i guess the mayor misunderstood the real meaning of 'jingle
keys' and did something stupid, but can someone tell me what's correct
version of 'jingle keys'? is this something to do with political
tricks?

"Jingle keys" is a verb plus a direct object, not an adjective plus a noun.
Therefore, the final diversion on the mayor's list is to jingle his keys in
front of the protesting crowd in order to divert their attention from the
reason for their protest to wondering why the mayor is jingling his keys.

The diversion is a stupid one, but the mayor made no mistake. He did what
he was supposed to do, however stupid it might have been. The real question
to ask now is an easy one: Did it work?

--
Franke: EFL teacher and medical editor
Unmunged email: /at/hush.ai
Native speaker of American English, posting from Taiwan
It's all in the way you say it, innit?

Raymond S. Wise

2006-07-15 04:51:45 UTC

Permalink

Jingling keys is something one might do to distract a baby who was
crying.

The mayor's list can be seen on the following Web page:

http://www.tv.com/family-guy/stewie-loves-lois/episode/664920/summary.html

[quote]

· Outlaw Flag Burning

· Use Escape Pod

· Scapegoat the Jews

· Commit Suicide

· Scapegoat the Blacks

· Scapegoat the French

· Scapegoat the Jews Again
(Call Them "New Yorkers")

· Start a War

· Jingle Keys

[end quote]

These are funny for various reasons. "Jingle keys" because it should
not work as a distraction on an adult, "Commit Suicide" because the
politician doing so would not benefit from the distraction he created,
and "Use escape pod" because the idea of anyone using an escape pod,
much less a mayor, is still for the most part limited to the realm of
science fiction. All the other diversions on the list have probably
actually been used at one time or another. That aspect of those
diversions gives them both the jolt of recognition and shock value, and
being shocking is one of the things the writers of *Family Guy* aim
for.

(I'm a fan of the show.)

--
Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA

E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com

Chris Chen

2006-07-15 05:01:53 UTC

Permalink

thanks all, now i got the point, :D

Post by Raymond S. Wise

Jingling keys is something one might do to distract a baby who was
crying.
http://www.tv.com/family-guy/stewie-loves-lois/episode/664920/summary.html
[quote]
· Outlaw Flag Burning
· Use Escape Pod
· Scapegoat the Jews
· Commit Suicide
· Scapegoat the Blacks
· Scapegoat the French
· Scapegoat the Jews Again
(Call Them "New Yorkers")
· Start a War
· Jingle Keys
[end quote]
These are funny for various reasons. "Jingle keys" because it should
not work as a distraction on an adult, "Commit Suicide" because the
politician doing so would not benefit from the distraction he created,
and "Use escape pod" because the idea of anyone using an escape pod,
much less a mayor, is still for the most part limited to the realm of
science fiction. All the other diversions on the list have probably
actually been used at one time or another. That aspect of those
diversions gives them both the jolt of recognition and shock value, and
being shocking is one of the things the writers of *Family Guy* aim
for.
(I'm a fan of the show.)
--
Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA

Lars Eighner

2006-07-15 08:53:01 UTC

Permalink

Well, no, it means literally to pull his key ring out of his pocket and
jingle the keys -- and action that might divert an infant or an animal.
This is a joke that cuts both ways. The attempt to divert an angry mob
with such a simple thing is clearly born of desperation, but that any of
the other tricks on the list ever work -- and some of them certainly have --
shows that mobs are not very smart. Political tricks are stupid, but some
of them work because people are stupid.

"No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American
people." -- attributed to P.T. Barnum.

--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> <http://myspace.com/larseighner>
"Books and marriage go ill together." --Moliere