# Odd police dialouge in Die Hard **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 8, 2016, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322 "2016-09-08T05:21:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/41 "2016-09-09T01:04:34Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > \*\*McClane \*\*shot at the squad car?!? With a short-barrelled submachine gun?!? Set on rapid fire?!? :eek: > > Damn, that’s what’s called “taking one helluva big chance”! He could easily have hit Powell with the friggin’ thing, especially at that distance. It ain’t a real accurate weapon, even up close. > > Oddly, I don’t remember this. I thought it was the terrorists who were doing the shooting. My mistake! :smack: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/I6wRZCV7naE/maxresdefault.jpg "Die Hard (1988) - Welcome To The Party, Pal Scene (2/5) | Movieclips") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6wRZCV7naE&t=1m28s) It is the terrorists. They open up on the cop car with an M60 only after the body lands and gives them away. McClane only has his 9mm handgun on him at the time and he’s talking “Welcome to the party pal!” during the gunfire. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/42 "2016-09-09T01:05:02Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I was kind of hoping she’d say Roger, Wilco when I asked her to try to get it out promptly. I’ve bumped into some that respond based on their prior service even though they tend to get coached by their jobs into something more like the LE alphabet. Using the NATO alphabet, let alone the “I spell” pro-word before things like my name tends to get comment from those with experience. I’d wince horribly over “Roger, Wilco” though. The NATO pro-word WILCO actually includes the meaning of roger and simply adds on the will comply portion at the end. “Roger Wilco” is redundant by a strict application of the NATO pro-words. I know know to “blame” aviators for my pain if I hear it. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/43 "2016-09-09T01:23:41Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > In _ **Star Trek** _’s two-part episode “The Menagerie,” Starfleet apparently uses the old _Able–Baker_ system, because that’s what Spock says when he tells the computer to take control of the _Enterprise_. TNG+ seasons (and some of the movies) seem to also use the NATO system (if rarely), with “Charlie,” “Victor” and “Tango” popping up…except that “B” seems to be “Baker,” mentioned on a few occasions. Oh! But they _kept_ “Delta,” in a setting where the actual word “Delta” would not be in infrequent use, both as a scientific term _and_ a proper name (“Delta Radiation,” [“Deltans”](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Deltan), and any number of planets and star systems come to mind). “Bra_vo_.” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/44 "2016-09-09T01:32:36Z")
> [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > The RAF/British lexicon until 1942 was: > \<\<\>\> > **Toc** > \<\<\>\> What is the meaning of “toc”? I tried Googling it, but came up with mostly acronyms. The only other references I could find were historical, from a work of fiction: \*The face that Charlie made in these circumstances was so ineffably funny, that \*\*toc \*\*burst into uncontrollable laughter. “Of course I do,” said **toc** , on whose ear the word “father” fell pleasantly. There was an assumption of fine paternal dignity about \*\*toc \*_when he said this, which was quite beautiful to behold._ All from \*\*\*The Lonely Island \*\*\* by R.M. Ballantyne. The author was Scottish (1825–1894), so I’m assuming “toc” is a northern dialect or slang term? If it were a proper name, it would be capitalized, right? _Tommy_ replaced _Toc_ at one point in the British PA, which actually sounds much better to me. It’d be awfully easy to confuse with “doc.” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/45 "2016-09-09T01:49:20Z")
And yes, I considered the term “tic-toc” before I Googled. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/46 "2016-09-09T02:03:44Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > IIRC he threw the body onto his car, then started shooting at / near the car from the hole in the window. “Welcome to the party!” I don’t believe McClane shoots at Powell at this time (as others have stated) but doesn’t he shoot at the spotlights later when he discovers that the LAPD are preparing to assault the building? There are officers standing pretty darn close to those lights. And my favorite, why do the cops who are trying to get into the building light a blowtorch to cut their way through the locked door. It’s a glass door. Hey, guys, just break the glass. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/47 "2016-09-09T03:01:00Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Hey, guys, just break the glass. _“Schiess das Fenster!”_🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/48 "2016-09-09T03:26:56Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > _“Schiess das Fenster!”_🆒 That comes later. But seriously, I was watching this movie the other day, and It dawned on me. (And maybe this would be good to post in the “things you realize after seeing a creative work a million times” thread.) Powell’s car has been turned into Swiss cheese and the LAPD has their whole SWAT team in place (complete with armored car); they know this isn’t a drill or a hoax. They send an assault team to go in the door. It’s locked, so they light up a torch to cut through the lock even though they know they’re sitting ducks if they stay where they are. Ten seconds later the bad guys shoot them through the door, and the tempered glass breaks and falls away. Why didn’t the cops just break the glass to get in? The guys inside still would have mowed them down. It wouldn’t have made any real difference, but now that I noticed it it just seems kinda stupid. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/49 "2016-09-09T03:35:45Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > It’s interesting to discover that there’s an official LAPD alphabet. Throughout numerous movies, I had always assumed they were just casually making up words. > > Incidentally, it’s always pleasing to hear somebody using the NATO alphabet outside a context such as aviation where it’s expected – I was confirming a bank wire transfer over the phone yesterday and the clerk used it. I was kind of hoping she’d say Roger, Wilco when I asked her to try to get it out promptly. FWIIW at least when I was in the Army, it is Roger or Wilco but never Roger Wilco. Same with Over and Out, one or the other never Over and Out. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/50 "2016-09-09T04:14:43Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > In LORAN equipment, I was taught there was a master station and several secondary stations in each chain. Older techs used master/slave. Of course. “Slave” is so obviously racist and un-PC! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hocus\_Pocus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/41988e/32.png) [@Hocus\_Pocus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hocus_Pocus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/51 "2016-09-09T06:44:14Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > But on CHIPS the officer call signs were 7 Mary 3 and 7 Mary 4. That’s because Ponch & Jon were riding what? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/52 "2016-09-09T09:22:44Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > So the phonetic for ‘M’ isn’t Mancy? You of all people. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/53 "2016-09-09T12:10:30Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Of course. “Slave” is so obviously racist and un-PC! 😃 Actually, tech jargon has absolutely moved away from “master/slave” and lumped everything under “server/client” in the past few decades. Which is understandable, but there were subtle differences between “slave” and “client” that made that distinction useful. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/54 "2016-09-09T14:21:10Z")
> [@edwards\_beard](#): > > It also sounds like “Abe Lincoln 30” not “8 Lincoln 30” Maybe you were watching the network broadcast edit and they dubbed over the line as “a blinking thirty”. Did the movie you saw include the line “Yippee ki yay, Mother Hubbard”? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/55 "2016-09-09T14:34:40Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > _“Schiess das Fenster!”_🆒 I’m not 100% sure of my translation, but if I am, good one! The difference between the two doesn’t seem that big. Those crazy Germans! Probably makes a common pun, better than English, _ja_? ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/56 "2016-09-09T14:48:50Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Maybe you were watching the network broadcast edit and they dubbed over the line as “a blinking thirty”. > > Did the movie you saw include the line “Yippee ki yay, Mother Hubbard”? Nope Watched the DVD ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/57 "2016-09-09T14:55:48Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Is that proper protocol? I’ve always thought the correct request is “Say again?” and not “Repeat?” :dubious: 😕 He might have said “Say again.” What do you want from me - I saw this episode forty years ago! ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/58 "2016-09-09T15:10:41Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Maybe you were watching the network broadcast edit and they dubbed over the line as “a blinking thirty”. > > Did the movie you saw include the line “Yippee ki yay, Mother Hubbard”? Strange…I always thought the dubbed line was “Yippee ki yay, Mister Falcon” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/59 "2016-09-09T15:30:23Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I’m not 100% sure of my translation, but if I am, good one! > > The difference between the two doesn’t seem that big. Those crazy Germans! Probably makes a common pun, better than English, _ja_? In the movie, Hans finds it necessary to translate for his second-in-command (duh!); instead of saying “Shoot the window!” he says “Shoot the glass!” I’m sure Karl (and the audience) appreciated it. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322/60 "2016-09-09T17:42:26Z")
> [@edwards\_beard](#): > > Strange…I always thought the dubbed line was “Yippee ki yay, Mister Falcon” That was **Die Hard 2**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-police-dialouge-in-die-hard/765322.md?page=4)