Footnotes to the TV series
LORELAI: If I clean up Hug-a-World, does that cancel out me not getting rid of the boxes?
RORY: I’ll consider it a wash.
A wash, an idiom meaning that something is equal, with neither side having an advantage. It dates to the early twentieth century, and originally meant something disappointing, “a washout”. The meaning has gradually changed to mean that the situation is neither positive nor negative.
A twist on the familiar idiom, A fish out of water, referring to someone who feels awkward or uncomfortable in an unfamiliar environment. The earliest known example comes from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1483, and was about someone riding a horse, which they weren’t used to.
In this case, the episode is actually about fishing – something Lorelai knows nothing about.
RORY: Well, I do wanna go to Italy.
LORELAI: Two birds with one stone, my friend.
To kill two birds with one stone is an idiom meaning to solve two problems with a single action. The phrase dates to the 1600s, and probably references using a slingshot to kill two birds at once.
RORY: You remember – she was the one you made all those Hamburg/hamburger jokes to.
LORELAI: God, I beat that dead horse.
See “The Horse is Dead“.
Although hamburgers literally mean “from Hamburg”, the connection between the food and the city is far from certain.
RORY: Just for the record, I’m a girl and we are supposed to throw like this. [throws the ball]
“You throw like a girl” is an insult given to someone, usually male, who throws a ball or object in a manner which is judged to be feeble or incompetent. “The girlie throw” is one which uses the space around the thrower in a restricted manner, with only the hand and forearm being utilised in the movement.
Rory is taking ownership of “throwing like a girl”, and not seeing it as a flaw that needs to be changed or fixed about herself. And in fact, she is successful at the bottle toss game, unlike Jess.
[Lorelai and Rory walk down the sidewalk]
RORY: The best laid plans.
An idiom from a Robert Burns poem, previously discussed.
Lorelai’s plans to get away with not eating anything at the Kims’ was foiled by Mrs Kim watching her like a hawk until she ate her tofurkey.
LORELAI: Well, here’s hoping your cat exposes itself to you soon.
KIRK: From your mouth to God’s ears.
From your mouth to God’s ears is an idiomatic Yiddish saying, indicating that the speaker wishes whatever has been to come true. Although similar such proverbs can be found in the Bible, the expression only seems to exist in Jewish/Yiddish literature from the middle of the 19th century. The saying is also common in Arabic, and this is possibly its origin.
EMILY: You stay that way until it’s gone.
LORELAI: Aye, aye, captain.
Aye aye, captain, an affirmative reply from a seaman to their captain on a ship. In the British Royal Navy and the US Navy, it is aye aye, sir/madam. Aye is an archaic word meaning “yes”.
RICHARD: Let’s get this show on the road.
Let’s get this show on the road, an American idiom meaning “let’s get started, let’s get going”. It’s from show business, especially travelling theatre companies, vaudeville troupes, and circuses. It dates to around 1910, but the first citation of it is in the 1951 novel From Here to Eternity, by James Jones.
JESS: I noticed Rory’s not dancing with Dean … How come? Trouble in paradise?
Trouble in paradise is an idiom meaning that there is a problem in a supposedly idyllic situation, nearly always referring to a marital or romantic relationship. The phrase seemingly dates to the late 19th century, and refers to the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden from the Bible.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 