# 'she's dead jim' from google chrome. where does the saying come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 1, 2013, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-dead-jim-from-google-chrome-where-does-the-saying-come-from/670077 "2013-10-01T10:25:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-dead-jim-from-google-chrome-where-does-the-saying-come-from/670077/41 "2013-10-02T18:55:31Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Why did he write Round Objects on a memo? I don’t get it 😕 > > The TV version doesn’t make any sense either. Is this a Britishism? Round objects = balls. It is a Britishism. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-dead-jim-from-google-chrome-where-does-the-saying-come-from/670077/42 "2013-10-02T19:11:49Z")
Most Americans would probably be more familiar with Brit’s saying ‘bollocks’ in this context than ‘balls’, but since ‘bollocks’ and ‘balls’ (in the ‘testes’ sense) are synonyms, it amounts to the same thing. (And, yes, the joke is that Bernard and Hacker are both calling it bollocks with various levels of obfuscation, and Hacker going off script confused Sir Humphrey due to ‘objects’ (noun) being a homograph for ‘objects’ (verb).) ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-dead-jim-from-google-chrome-where-does-the-saying-come-from/670077/43 "2013-10-02T20:09:20Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The payoff joke is, of course, that whoever read the memo next completely misinterpreted the comment, i.e., took “Round objects” to be a proper noun and a verb rather than an adjective and a common noun. > > Quite clever writing, actually! 🆒 [Bill Stickers is innocent!](http://www.funnysigns.net/files/bill-stickers-is-innocent-400x274.jpg) Just the other day I saw an ad for a t-shirt which had something like “Dammit Jim!” and then a bunch of icons for different icons, with all having a “no” symbol through them except a stethoscope. I thought it was cute. ---
**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:** [October 2, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-dead-jim-from-google-chrome-where-does-the-saying-come-from/670077/44 "2013-10-02T20:48:27Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > Thankyouverymuch. Latka Gravas? :dubious: ---
**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:** [October 2, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-dead-jim-from-google-chrome-where-does-the-saying-come-from/670077/45 "2013-10-02T20:55:07Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Most Americans would probably be more familiar with Brit’s saying ‘bollocks’ in this context than ‘balls’, but since ‘bollocks’ and ‘balls’ (in the ‘testes’ sense) are synonyms, it amounts to the same thing. Quite so. But the original obfuscation was, IIRC, “pointed tools of ancient shoemakers,” or words to that effect equaling “cobbler’s awls” (“balls”). A transcript of the dialogue can be found here [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yes,\_Minister](http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yes,_Minister) but that particular quote is quite a ways down the page. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-dead-jim-from-google-chrome-where-does-the-saying-come-from/670077/46 "2013-10-02T21:08:44Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The payoff joke is, of course, that whoever read the memo next completely misinterpreted the comment, i.e., took “Round objects” to be a proper noun and a verb rather than an adjective and a common noun. Sir Humphrey Appleby - for it was he - _pretends_ to misinterpret the joke, rather. He notices the possible double meaning and exploits it to score a point off Jim Hacker, that being one of his pleasures in life. There’s no way Sir Humphrey would not get the intended meaning. ---
**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:** [October 2, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-dead-jim-from-google-chrome-where-does-the-saying-come-from/670077/47 "2013-10-02T21:13:21Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Sir Humphrey Appleby - for it was he - _pretends_ to misinterpret the joke, rather. He notices the possible double meaning and exploits it to score a point off Jim Hacker, that being one of his pleasures in life. There’s no way Sir Humphrey would not get the intended meaning. Aha! Yet another layer of witty humor to savor! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-dead-jim-from-google-chrome-where-does-the-saying-come-from/670077/48 "2013-10-02T21:46:58Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Quite so. But the original obfuscation was, IIRC, “pointed tools of ancient shoemakers,” or words to that effect equaling “cobbler’s awls” (“balls”). Nah, Bernard’s obfuscation was a layer deeper (or two, depending how you want to count) and with more idiom than that. CGSM -\> Consignment of Geriatric Shoe Manufacturers -\> Load of old Cobblers -\> Cobbler’s (Awls). ---
**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:** [October 2, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-dead-jim-from-google-chrome-where-does-the-saying-come-from/670077/49 "2013-10-02T22:02:07Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Nah, Bernard’s obfuscation was a layer deeper (or two, depending how you want to count) and with more idiom than that. > > CGSM -\> Consignment of Geriatric Shoe Manufacturers -\> Load of old Cobblers -\> Cobbler’s (Awls). Indeed, quite correct! Jolly, jolly, jolly good! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-dead-jim-from-google-chrome-where-does-the-saying-come-from/670077/50 "2013-10-02T23:58:45Z")
> [@sentrix](#): > > pssst…i have never watched star trek. I never watched the Seinfeld Show, but I still know the saying “no soup for you”! I hate gangster shows and don’t even know which one this is from, but I still understand the saying “say hello to my leetle friend” and so on. One doesn’t have to be a fan of a specific show to have heard and assimilated very common cultural references. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-dead-jim-from-google-chrome-where-does-the-saying-come-from/670077/51 "2013-10-03T02:33:11Z")
> [@sentrix](#): > > thank you very much. i saw an old western once and a horse was dying in the arms of a cowboy. took it as being that. its name was jim or was it the cowboy? DeForest Kelley, Dr Leonard “Bones” (short for “sawbones,” 19th-century American slang for a doctor or surgeon) McCoy on _Star Trek-TOS_ (The Original Series), played a cowboy in so many shows that it might very well have been him. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2013, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-dead-jim-from-google-chrome-where-does-the-saying-come-from/670077/52 "2013-10-03T08:00:25Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > I hate gangster shows and don’t even know which one this is from, but I still understand the saying “say hello to my leetle friend.” Al Pacino in _ **Scarface** _? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-dead-jim-from-google-chrome-where-does-the-saying-come-from/670077/53 "2013-10-03T08:08:58Z")
Is everyone familiar with the book “Dammit, Jim” by Ima Doktor and Nada Brickleier? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-dead-jim-from-google-chrome-where-does-the-saying-come-from/670077.md?page=2)