Understanding Required :)

[*Starstuff*]

Hi everyone,

I have a question regarding a word that Ivanonva uses in episode 2x01 (Second season, first episode) "Point of departure".

Cpt. Sheridan arrives, Ivanonva meets him and briefs him shortly about the current situation. Then she mentions that Delenn is in a cocoon.
Sheridan: "As in a moth or a butterfly?"
Ivanova: "Yes. About ???? high."

What word is she using there? I have watched this scene over and over and can't figure it out.

Any help from you english native speakers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Morden]

Have you tried the DVD-subtitles?
I'm not at home right know, so someone else will have to jump in.

[Spoo Junky]

I don't recall what he said exactly at the moment, and I'm not sure of the spelling, but it sound like "yay-high"? The "yay" part usually means "this" when put with "high".

[vacantlook]

You've got it, Spoo Junky. "...about yay-high" = "...about this tall".

[babylonlurker]

The script book says "yea high"

so close enough to "yay"

"Understanding is a three edged sword : your side , their side .... and the truth"

[*Starstuff*]

Oh my ... of, course the subtitles! *slaphandonforehead* ... I never use them so I didn't even think to turn them on!

So, "yay". That's what I heared, but I didn't know this actually was a word. Thanks for giving a translation for that as well

Thanks all of you!

[Andrew_Swallow]

Be careful when using it, yae as in yaehigh is not in my dictionary so its more of a sound than a word.

[*Starstuff*]

Oh, I wasn't intending to use it, it just bothered me I couldn't figure out what Ivanova said I guess it is more slang than a formal word, right?

On a side-note: Getting into embarassing situations because of using a "wrong" word is not new to me. In my English lessons here in Germany we learned that an eraser is a rubber (I think rubber is the British English, whereas eraser should be American English). Our teacher, knowing full well I was leaving for a year to attend a US high school, didn't bother to tell what *else* rubber meant. Imagine the look of my fellow students and my teacher when I loudly asked for a rubber in class

[RMcD]

I've heard this before, but was never sure precisely what it meant. Apparently it's a US expression used to mean 'so' or 'this' when describing size, usually accompanied by a hand gesture.. (see, even us native English speakers are continually learning new things about our own language )

You might also want to watch out for the difference in the meaning of 'pissed' between the UK and US, as in 'Captain Sheridan, I think the Shadows are pissed'.

US: pissed = angry
UK: pissed = dead drunk

[Spoo Junky]

.. and "knocked up" also mean two different things, depending on where you say it.... One means to wake you up and the other is slang for being pregnant, usually in an unplanned kind of way

[*Starstuff*]

@SpooJunkie and RMcD:
I had no idea I could use those two terms in different ways. I only knew "pissed" as to be angry and "knocked up" as the pregnancy thing.

Funnily enough, I had discussions with several people in the last weeks about the many layers of the English language. There is often more than one meaning to a word, sometimes even more than two.
In German, that is rather rare. Our language is quite precise and I often find it difficult to be subtle.

Maybe that is a reason why it is so much more fun to watch TV shows and movies in English ... there's so much meaning between the lines that cannot be translated properly. I noticed that for the first time when I watched "Armageddon" in English. I almost died laughing at little comments and jokes that never made it through the translation into German.

The disadvantage: I keep thinking in English and right now, writing my final thesis, this is really annoying (I am writing in German). So I have to translate my OWN thoughts back into my native language. Talk about crazy

[RMcD]

I've been known to switch the audio and subtitles on my B5 season 1 DVDs over to French or German. Since I already know roughly what the characters are saying, it's a good way to get exposure to another language. Unfortunately the audio dubbing and subtitles seem to have been done seperately and don't always match (plus it's hard to get used to the alternative voices)..

[Garibaldi's Hair]

I'll never forget the look on the face of an American air cadet I was on camp with years ago when the adjutant said he was going to knock us up around 6:30am.

Priceless.

[*Starstuff*]

@RMcD: Yes, that's another thing I don't like about translations. The voices are all different. I completely forgot about that, since I only watch stuff in the original versions. You should hear the voices they put on Data or Picard (Star Trek TNG, they are horrible! Not to mention Buffy ...

@Garibaldi's Hair: Thank you for the bruises, I just _fell_ of my chair laughing when I read your post ... I am still hicchoughing from laughter