Comments on: You don't wanna go in the desert.

Question: You don't wanna go in the desert.

j_curiouser — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 08:34:13 -0800

Does this figure of speech from Spartan have a real-life antecedent/basis in military or law enforcement vernacular?

In the Mamet film Spartan (2004), Val Kilmer's character tries to get his colleague to shut up and listen hard: "You need to set your motherfucker to 'receive'."

Is this a Real Thing™?

By: zamboni

zamboni — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 09:26:39 -0800

Radios can be half-duplex - send or receive.

By: j_curiouser

j_curiouser — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 09:29:44 -0800

thanks, zamboni. that's a useful physical metaphor. But would anyone actually say that in a real-life context, as above?

By: jb

jb — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 09:47:39 -0800

Anyone who is old (aka over 30), and who has used walkie-talkies or shortwave radios, etc. My SO and I joke about being set to "send" or "receive".

By: the man of twists and turns

the man of twists and turns — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 12:30:10 -0800

I've never heard that exact phrasing, but it doesn't seem out-of-place.

By: Pecinpah

Pecinpah — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 14:52:08 -0800

I was a corpsman in the navy during the first Gulf War; drove an ambulance and worked in clinics mostly. There's a lot of jargon/catchphrasing in that environment, but I'd never heard that phrase before.

It's immediately evident what it means though, and it's kinda cool. I don't get into a lot of situations where it might be OK to say that to someone, but I'm going to have it on lock, just in case.

By: prentiz

prentiz — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 15:15:18 -0800

I've heard similar expressions several times from people connected to the military in the UK.