Slang and pun

Posted by ESC on May 01, 2003

In Reply to: Slang and pun posted by Miri Barak on May 01, 2003

: As usual I turn to you in need:
: it's Crime Scene Investigation:

: the police finds four murdered poeple: a father, a mother, two brothers inside a house. two sisters are found alive, and one policeman says to the other:

: "Teen girl heard a noise, his in the closet. Alerted the neighbors after all the shoutin' was done. Younger sister's over there. They couldn't've killed their father tag team, soaking wet."

:
: I don't have a clue what he means by "their father tag team" and "soaking wet". I have a feeling that it is some pun. I know that wet is a slang for weak, and tag team is a slang for a gang, taken from wrestling. But these are only guesses.
: Thank you for your help
: Miri

The author is mixing together a couple of expressions.

"Tag team" is a wrestling term. Four people are wrestling - two on each team. Only two people can be in the ring at one time. So when team members want to switch, one tags the other.

"Soaking wet" refers to a person who is so small he or she doesn't weigh much even with the added weight of wet clothes. "He doesn't weigh 90 lbs. soaking wet."

So the girls were so delicate that even working as a team they couldn't have done the deed.

• Slang and pun and a lot of thanks Miri Barak 05/01/03