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Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

they threw a cushion to the wings

English answer:

Play on words: they threw caution to the winds

Added to glossary by Kevin Kelly
Dec 5, 2004 22:38
20 yrs ago
English term

they threw a cushion to the wings

English Art/Literary Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
Penelope Cruz (about the Beckhams):
They were already a massive couple in terms of their reach. Tom and I could never measure up. Well, Tom couldn't but then they threw a cushion to the wings.

[Posh & Becks
Alistair McGowan's Big Impression]
Responses
3 +5 it's a clever reference to Tom Cruise being "vertically challenged"
1 +4 throwing caution to the winds (?)
2 alluding to Tom's height?

Discussion

Charlie Bavington Dec 5, 2004:
I think we *might* be able to shed more light if we know what comes afterwards...

Responses

+5
18 mins
Selected

it's a clever reference to Tom Cruise being "vertically challenged"

Consider this: Perhaps Penelope's command of English is better than we think. Tom is "waiting in the wings, cannot measure up, until the Beckhams threw him a cushion (to raise him a bit higher)...." Just a hunch :-)
Peer comment(s):
neutral Richard Benham : This is clever, but possibly a bit too clever.//It's the best suggestion so far, though. Good effort. :-)
2 mins
Thank you, Richard.
agree Anna Maria Augustine (X)
18 mins
Thank you, Anna.
agree Asghar Bhatti
31 mins
Thank you, Asghar.
agree Jane Gabbutt : Its a good explanation but surely Alistair McGowan wrote this, not Penelope?
10 hrs
Thanks, Jane. You may be right; I doubt that Penelope generated it.
agree Eskarina
17 hrs
Thank you.
agree Pawel Gromek
2 days 17 hrs
Thank you.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you."
+4
5 mins

throwing caution to the winds (?)

Could it be a reference to "throwing caution to the winds"?
HTH
Peer comment(s):
agree Jackie Bowman : For certain. They're mocking Penelope Cruz's accent/use of English.
4 mins
Quite possibly. Thanks Jack.
neutral Richard Benham : Obviously it's a parody of "throw caution to the winds", but the question is: what's it supposed to mean?//I don't know either.... It's weird.
6 mins
Quite so. I am sorry to say I don't know. I just offered it as a tentative suggestion...
agree airmailrpl : a play on words "throwing caution to the winds"
1 hr
Thanks
agree Alexander Demyanov
2 hrs
Thanks Alexander
agree Jane Gabbutt : This is definitely a play on the well-known phrase but there may be other meaning to it...
10 hrs
Absolutely. Thanks anyway.
Something went wrong...
37 mins

alluding to Tom's height?

I don't know if I'm about to say something really stupid but knowing Penelope's quirky sense of humor, couldn't it be that she was playing on the word measure up, alluding to Tom's stature? And then justifying his not being able to do so because the Bekhams threw a cushion at "his wings"?
(It's what my boyfriend would call non-native humour...I know that from my own experience ;)
Peer comment(s):
neutral Richard Benham : This is a partial explanation, but I think Kevin's suggestion for "wings" is better.
8 mins
Something went wrong...
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