Slow Horses 3.3: The Meaningful Difference Between "The" and "A" in the UK

As anyone who watches TV in English that comes for the other side of the Atlanticwell knows, the folks there have a great expression, "take the piss," which means mock or make a fool or fun of.  That's in contrast to the use of "take a piss," which on this side of the Atlantic means what my wife always tells me women prefer describing as peeing.  So what does this little idiom lesson have to do with the third episode of the third season of Slow Horses, up on Apple TV+ yesterday?

Well, in one of many telling scenes in this episode, Shirley tells Marcus that she's taking a piss.   Which struck me as culturally significant because I don't recall the word "piss" ever used on U.K. or Irish television that way, and what my wife, as I said, tells me about women.  Further, Shirley shortly after talks about "pee".  So in addition to all its many other merits, Slow Horses provides some kind of lesson in charming vulgarity on both sides of the Atlantic.

Speaking of which, Lamb, as can always be relied upon, stinks up a car when he lets one go (is that an acceptable euphemism?) in a car with the windows closed.  That's marginally better than doing the same in an elevator, because there are no windows to open when an elevator is moving.  On the other hand, when Lamb is the perpetrator, the place is bad wherever it happens.  Lamb himself is quick to leave the car after he does the deed, leaving the other passenger not only grimacing but gasping.

[Hey, three paragraphs, and no warning about spoilers, but now there's one coming up ... ]

I was glad to see Spider go, for good.  At least I hope so because, as you devoted readers will know, I have a fundamental principle in reviewing television shows that if you don't see a character blasted in the head or decapitated, he or she may not be dead.  But this episode if anything heightened his obnoxiousness, which give us even more of a reason to want him gone, so I'm hoping my principle of decapitation or its equivalent doesn't apply here.

Next on my list of people I'd like to see gone is the bald guy who came in at the end of River's beating and added some damage of his own.   We'll see how he's dealt with in the episodes ahead...

See also Slow Horses 3.1-3.2

And see also Slow Horses 2.1-2.2: Do Horses Eat Ramen? ... 2.3: Faster Than You Think ... 2.4-2.5: Lamb Firing On All Cylinders ... Slow Horses 2.6: Heralds of Humiliation

And see also Slow Horses 1.1-2: Fast-Moving Spy Thriller ... Slow Horses 1.3: The Fine Art of Bumbling ... Slow Horses 1.4: Fine New Song by Mick Jagger ... Slow Horses 1.5: Did You Hear the One About the ... Slow Horses 1.6: The Scorecard

  

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