# Silence of the Lambs question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 5, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969 "2009-09-05T17:31:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/1 "2009-09-05T17:31:09Z")
So I stumble across Special Agent Starling and Dr. Lecter the other night and see the scene: “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.” And then he makes that noise. And for the millionth time I ask myself, “What the hell is the point of that noise?” I haven’t got a clue. Can anybody shed a light on this little mystery? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/2 "2009-09-05T17:37:02Z")
(a) To emphasize how delicious it (or, er, “he”) was, (b) to reinforce the sense that Lecter’s got a usually-hidden animalistic side to him, and © to creep her (and by extension, the audience) the fuck out. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/3 "2009-09-05T17:37:44Z")
What _I’ve_ never understood is why a cultured man like Dr. Lecter would mispronounce chianti. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/4 "2009-09-05T17:38:42Z")
Didn’t Anthony Hopkins ad-lib that moment(the slurping moment I mean)? I thought he was just supposed to deliver the line, but he went for that and really freaked out Jodie Foster. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/5 "2009-09-05T17:47:21Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > What _I’ve_ never understood is why a cultured man like Dr. Lecter would mispronounce chianti. I thought it was a deliberately mocking “redneck mispronunciation” as he says it with a little sneer and a different accent. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/6 "2009-09-05T17:51:14Z")
I believe elsewhere in the words preceding “chianti” he affects a midwestern US (?) lilt or twang very slightly as well. I agree it’s deliberate. I also think the mouth thing might be in part a send-up of the wine-tasting aerate-it-all-over-my-mouth’s-inside thing, in addition to what’s already been mentioned above. Just guesses. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/7 "2009-09-05T18:52:20Z")
Okay, I completely admit to being a rube, so can someone explain to me what the correct pronunciation is of chianti? ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/8 "2009-09-05T18:56:48Z")
Key-AHN-tee. He pronounced it “key-ANN-ti.” And I assumed it was a poke at Starling’s “redneck” upbringing in West Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/9 "2009-09-05T19:27:38Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > Key-AHN-tee. He pronounced it “key-ANN-ti.” And I assumed it was a poke at Starling’s “redneck” upbringing in West Virginia. Lecter’s mocking tone would be like: “Italian chianti” vs. “eye-talian key-ANNE-tey” ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/10 "2009-09-05T19:45:48Z")
I thought it was “quantify”, not test. I might be remembering the book though. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/11 "2009-09-05T19:57:32Z")
[Check out the funbags on that hosehound.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwsGw7_H398) ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/12 "2009-09-05T20:48:00Z")
I’ve always heard what **Mahaloth** says–that Hopkins improvised the noise to creep the f\*ck out of Jodie Foster. I used to think that his pronunciation of “chiAAAnti” was a Britishism–much like the pronunciation of “pasta” with a short “a” for the first syllable. But now I’m not sure, and considering his mock West Virginia accent in that same scene (“you think you can dissect me with this blunt tool?”), I concede it’s entirely possible that he was just making fun of Clarice’s modest background and trying to get a rise out of Foster. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/13 "2009-09-05T21:19:11Z")
Hm. I always assumed it was Hopkins going overboard on his American accent. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/14 "2009-09-05T22:30:21Z")
> [@Gotterfunken](#): > > … considering his mock West Virginia accent in that same scene (“you think you can dissect me with this blunt tool?”), I concede it’s entirely possible that he was just making fun of Clarice’s modest background and trying to get a rise out of Foster. > [@](#): > > Jodie Foster claims that during the first meeting between Lecter and Starling, Anthony Hopkins’s mocking of her southern accent was not rehearsed and that Hopkins improvised it on the spot. Foster’s reaction of horror was totally genuine, as she felt personally attacked, though she later thanked Hopkins for generating such an honest reaction. > [@](#): > > Anthony Hopkins invented the fast, slurping-type sound that Hannibal Lecter does. He did it spontaneously during filming on the set, and everyone thought it was great. Director Jonathan Demme became annoyed with it after a while, but denied his irritation. From the IMDB _The Silence of the Lambs_ trivia [page](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102926/trivia). CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/15 "2009-09-06T00:16:05Z")
The noise was an exaggeration of slurping up drool at the though of eating human liver, I always thought. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/16 "2009-09-06T00:49:03Z")
Lecter also [mispronounces](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBLhYLAfozU&feature=related) (at 2:15) Duomo and Belvedere when he describes his painting to Starling. He says Do-OH-mo instead of Dwoh-moh, and Bel-vah-DEER instead of Bel-vuh-DARE. Incidentally, the killer happens to live in Belvedere, Ohio. The city name also happens to be pronounced Bel-vuh-deer. Pretty cool fact that I read somewhere on the Dope. I don’t remember who mentioned it. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/17 "2009-09-06T01:54:22Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Hm. I always assumed it was Hopkins going overboard on his American accent. Are you joking? I would love the irony if you are not. You come up with a great piece of business and it so looks like someone affecting an unfamiliar drawl that even self confessed movie aficionados mistake it for poor acting by the actor rather than the character. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/18 "2009-09-06T02:01:05Z")
> [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > "A census taker once tried to test me. What test would a census taker give? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/19 "2009-09-06T15:22:17Z")
> [@](#): > > **carnivorous plant** : What test would a census taker give? Good catch. > [@](#): > > Jodie Foster claims that during the first meeting between Lecter and Starling, Anthony Hopkins’s mocking of her southern accent was not rehearsed and that Hopkins improvised it on the spot. Foster’s reaction of horror was totally genuine, as she felt personally attacked, though she later thanked Hopkins for generating such an honest reaction. I think this information was lifted fairly intact from the IMDB. If Jodie Foster said that, she could have meant that Hopkin’s, as Lecter, was mocking Clarice’s Southern accent. But if she felt personally attacked, maybe she thought that Hopkins was attacking her (Jodi Foster’s) fake Southern accent. The meaning is a little unclear. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969/20 "2009-09-06T16:26:34Z")
> [@](#): > > Foster’s reaction of horror was totally genuine, as she felt personally attacked Jeez, he really _is_ Dr. Lecter. :eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silence-of-the-lambs-question/508969.md?page=2)