# Explain this Quote from "Aliens"- "Assholes and Elbows" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 12, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268 "2008-07-12T21:42:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/1 "2008-07-12T21:42:04Z")
Apone says it in the loading dock to the rest of the grunts…“Ok, people let’s move it; assholes and elbows!” The gist of it is that he wants them to get busy, and quick. Is this a common military term, like “Drop your Cocks and Grab your Socks”? If so, what does it mean? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/2 "2008-07-12T21:51:19Z")
> **[Urban Dictionary: Assholes and elbows](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Assholes%20and%20elbows)** > > 'assholes and elbows' refers to working hard at a task. It originated in farm work. If a group of field hands is busy and bent over picking crops, then a supervisor looking out over the group would see nothing but "assholes and elbows". A derivative... the above site is a great place for seemingly obscure sayings. And My guess is both can be seen from behind when people are standing to attention, but facing away from the person doing the seeing. So the men know to do that. And strange that this question should appear as Alien Ressurection is on TV right now. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/3 "2008-07-12T21:56:25Z")
I have a feeling this thread will now descend into another Aliens quote thread. We should nuke it from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/4 "2008-07-12T21:58:21Z")
I always thought he wanted to see them bent over working so that all you could see was their assholes and elbows. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/5 "2008-07-12T22:02:16Z")
I heard a drill sergeant say that in basic training, 1982: “When I say ‘fall out’, I don’t wanna see anything but assholes and elbows headed into the barracks”, meaning he wanted us to run as fast as we could. It’s military slang, that’s all I got. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/6 "2008-07-12T22:27:51Z")
Huh. Previously I’d assumed it was some shortened variant on “He didn’t know his ass from his elbow” i.e. confused, befuddled. Apone was telling them to keep alert, don’t fuck up, don’t screw around, don’t waste time, **KNOW** your asses from your elbows, maggots! ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/7 "2008-07-12T22:29:53Z")
It means to hurry. When a person is running off you do something all you see is their asshole and elbows. It’s an oldie but a goodie. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/8 "2008-07-13T00:52:10Z")
A woman who’d been in the military told me that during calisthenics, her DI would shout, “When you get up I want to hear fifty pussies sucking wind!” ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/9 "2008-07-13T00:54:02Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] A woman who’d been in the military told me that during calisthenics, her DI would shout, “When you get up I want to hear fifty pussies sucking wind!” [/QUOTE] Can women really… Oh never mind, missed the woosh :smack: SSG Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/10 "2008-07-13T01:04:02Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] A woman who’d been in the military told me that during calisthenics, her DI would shout, “When you get up I want to hear fifty pussies sucking wind!” [/QUOTE] I heard almost that exact story, with the punchline being the male instructor had to apologize to the all-female platoon, or he was kicked out, I forget which. I suspect urban-combat legend. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/11 "2008-07-13T01:12:15Z")
Actually I almost felt sorry for the females in boot camp. Even though we were in separate squad bays we crossed paths often enough during runs or other physical training. I thought our drill instuctors were harsh…yikes. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/12 "2008-07-13T01:28:47Z")
While Assholes and elbows and can be used to describe people running away from you, I have always heard it as a description of people hard at work. If someone is bent over a task working, all you can see from behind is their asshole and their elbows. If they stop work and straighten up you will see their head also. So when someone says all they want to see is assholes and elbows, they want people hard at work. ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/13 "2008-07-13T03:43:12Z")
I always heard it as a Navy saying – if the sailors are bent over scrubbing the deck on hands and knees, all you’re going to see is asses and elbows. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/14 "2008-07-13T05:25:44Z")
[QUOTE=SSG Schwartz] Can women really… Oh never mind, missed the woosh :smack: SSG Schwartz [/QUOTE] Actually I saw a comparatively soft porn movie in the 70s (something like The _Story of O_), and they were in an Oriental nightclub, where one of the featured performances was a woman smoking a cigarette with her, er, nether regions. So apparently at least _some_ women can suck wind. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/15 "2008-07-13T06:52:45Z")
[QUOTE=MisterThyristor] I always heard it as a Navy saying – if the sailors are bent over scrubbing the deck on hands and knees, all you’re going to see is asses and elbows. [/QUOTE] Thats what I thought too, but I am also reminded of that boot camp scene in movies where they are shimmying through, and under barbed wire and oh vey , the muck while a machine gun is firing just over their heads. Declan ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/16 "2008-07-13T07:15:04Z")
[QUOTE=Oy!] Actually I saw a comparatively soft porn movie in the 70s (something like The _Story of O_), and they were in an Oriental nightclub, where one of the featured performances was a woman smoking a cigarette with her, er, nether regions. So apparently at least _some_ women can suck wind. [/QUOTE] I’ve also seen demonstrations of women pootering men with a smear of shaving cream, or alternately, whipped cream from a fair distance. Apparently some women can blow, too. Just an esoteric man question… does a vagina breathe? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/17 "2008-07-13T07:23:45Z")
[QUOTE=devilsknew] Just an esoteric man question… does a vagina breathe? [/QUOTE] I would guess that a sufficiently practiced and determined woman could flex her cervix and/or other internal tissue to cause her vagina to rapidly expand and contract, “breathing” in some manner. ---
**Author:** ![Dottygumdrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Dottygumdrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dottygumdrop)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/18 "2008-07-13T08:34:57Z")
I remember, many moons ago, sitting at the bar in Super Girls in PatPong, Bangkok. I held a balloon over my head, while the naked girl on stage shot darts from her vagina to pop the balloon (and that over a distance of about 10-15 feet, at least)! :eek: 😕🆒 So, yeah. The short answer is that a girl can blow! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/19 "2008-07-13T13:25:05Z")
[QUOTE=Oy!] Actually I saw a comparatively soft porn movie in the 70s (something like The _Story of O_), and they were in an Oriental nightclub, where one of the featured performances was a woman smoking a cigarette with her, er, nether regions. So apparently at least _some_ women can suck wind. [/QUOTE] That would be _Emmanuelle_. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268/20 "2008-07-13T14:43:48Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] That would be **Emmanuelle**. [/QUOTE] You are correct, sir. I just now remembered that and was going to post it when I discovered you had beat me to it. Thanks, though. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to twirl tassles either, let alone throw darts. ☹ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-quote-from-aliens-assholes-and-elbows/456268.md?page=2)