Comments on: Anyone know Mike Judge or Stephen Root?

Question: Anyone know Mike Judge or Stephen Root?

Danelope — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:29:08 -0800

Office Space: Are the squirrels merry or married?

I've engaged in a scathing invective-laden debate with several coworkers about a scene in Office Space wherein Milton describes a pair of squirrels. I maintain that the squirrels were "married", a sad testament to Milton living vicariously through rodentia. My naysayers claim that the word in question is "merry".

I need a definitive, preferably firsthand source for verification. User-submitted quotes on IMDB or Wikipedia are insufficient proof for these chuckleheads. I'll be checking the DVD subtitles (assuming there are any) this evening, but even those are created by a third-party vendor. Anyone know Mike Judge or Stephen Root?

By: nineRED

nineRED — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:33:31 -0800

Subtitles say married.

By: nitsuj

nitsuj — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:34:19 -0800

IMDB says married.

Milton Waddams: [talking on the phone] And I said, I don't care if they lay me off either, because I told, I told Bill that if they move my desk one more time, then, then I'm, I'm quitting, I'm going to quit. And, and I told Don too, because they've moved my desk four times already this year, and I used to be over by the window, and I could see the squirrels, and they were married, but then, they switched from the Swingline to the Boston stapler, but I kept my Swingline stapler because it didn't bind up as much, and I kept the staples for the Swingline stapler and it's not okay because if they take my stapler then I'll set the building on fire...

By: nitsuj

nitsuj — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:35:27 -0800

oh, and I don't think IMDB quotes are user submitted

By: hatsix

hatsix — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:36:07 -0800

Just email them... IMDB says they have contact info, but you need an IMDB Pro account.

By: Gary

Gary — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:38:50 -0800

The special edition DVD discusses this line (it's "married") in one of the special features. Check out the review here for more details.

By: jmcmurry

jmcmurry — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:39:56 -0800

The IMDB quote is of questionable accuracy, because I'm pretty darn sure the first name of the slapping-on-the-back boss is Dom, not Don.

I vote for "married", not that this answers the question...

By: drjimmy11

drjimmy11 — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:43:37 -0800

i could've sworn the subtitles said "merry" but I dont have the dvd in front of me.

I too have had this debate many a time. It sounds like he says "merry" to me, although "married" is far funnier.

By: drjimmy11

drjimmy11 — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:44:11 -0800

The special edition DVD discusses this line (it's "married") in one of the special features.

oops didn't see that. guess I'm wrong.

By: WCityMike

WCityMike — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:44:42 -0800

nitsuj writes "oh, and I don't think IMDB quotes are user submitted"

They are. I just added a quote to "Face/Off."

By: Sonic_Molson

Sonic_Molson — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:18:08 -0800

474,000 results for married

251,000 results for merry

By: mzurer

mzurer — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:22:58 -0800

IMDB is not accurate. It's like wikipedia without the oversight.

By: fvox13

fvox13 — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:27:00 -0800

I read an interview in the the cast with Stephen, Ajay, and Ron, and I believe it was originally "merry" in the script, but Root said it "married" just to be funny.... kind of like Bob's Samir Naga-naga-nagonnaworkhereanymore gag - he never said that at rehearsal, and busted it out for the real filming so he would get a realistic laugh out the other Bob.

By: fvox13

fvox13 — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:27:44 -0800

...and by "in the the cast", I of course mean "in a magazine"

By: ObscureReferenceMan

ObscureReferenceMan — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:36:26 -0800

I always thought it was "merry". "Married" doesn't make sense to me. Besides, I can picture Milton being vicariously happy about merry squirrels.

By: i_am_joe's_spleen

i_am_joe's_spleen — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:06:43 -0800

I always heard it as married, and assumed he was prudishly saying that the squirrels were mating, or that he was projecting a fantasy Mommy and Daddy Squirrel family.

By: bshort

bshort — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:46:27 -0800

"merry"

What would it possibly mean for the squirrels to be "married?"

By: cillit bang

cillit bang — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:56:53 -0800

Subtitles on the Region 2 DVD say "they were married".

(and "Ze waren getrouwd", "qui etaint maries", "una familgliola di scoiattoli", "die sich hiarateten", "ja ne olviat naimisissa" and many more)

By: bunglin jones

bunglin jones — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 19:15:17 -0800

What would it possibly mean for the squirrels to be "married?"

That they were mating.

By: Danelope

Danelope — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 21:24:52 -0800

Vindication! Both from the subtitles and straight from Stephen Root's mouth on the special features. My detractors will never hear the end of this! Thanks all.

By: ryanrs

ryanrs — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 00:22:16 -0800

Most misquoted line in Office Space:

Well, I would invest half of it in glorious mutual funds, and give the rest of it to my friend Asudalah in securities.

Even the subtitles say glorious mutual funds. WTF is are glorious mutual funds? LOW RISK MUTUAL FUNDS, damn it! Don't trust the subtitles.

By: Flashman

Flashman — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 03:55:57 -0800

That's one small step for squirrel ...

By: angryjellybean

angryjellybean — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 09:16:27 -0800

I think it's funnier as 'merry', actually. Just giving squirrels any kind of emotional description is funny imo...

By: Merlyn

Merlyn — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 14:04:36 -0800

married. Without a doubt.