# "What we have here... is failure to comunicate." **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 27, 2005, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340 "2005-12-27T12:32:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/21 "2005-12-28T02:40:12Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I had an English teacher in high school who, when someone answered a question incorrectly, would shout, “What we have here is a failure to communicate!” To which the class would shout back, in unison, “My mind’s right, boss!” Someone should have correct the teacher. There is no “a” before “failure”. It’s just, “what we have here is failure to communicate”. A common mistake. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/22 "2005-12-28T03:20:14Z")
Did you know that _Cool Hand Luke_ is really a Christian allegory? Learn more about this and other surprising facts about this film from Tim Dirks’ [rundown on filmsite.org:](http://www.filmsite.org/cool.html) > [@](#): > > [Luke’s dependence on “nothin’” and the many parallels between Luke and Jesus Christ recall the Biblical reference in Luke 1:37: “For with God, nothing shall be impossible.”] > \ > As a prelude to the film’s memorable, comic egg-eating contest scene, Dragline bets on his boy Luke: “He can eat busted bottles and rusty nails, any damned thing.” Luke boldly wagers that he can eat fifty hard-boiled eggs in one hour. [The number 50 becomes significant - since there are 50 prisoners’ souls and 50 eggs, Luke’s ingesting of the eggs parallels Christ’s taking upon himself the sins of the world and bringing about a rebirth. Eggs, the celebration of Easter, and the resurrection are symbolically tied together.] The men exuberantly bet against him, disbelieving that he can perform the miracle without throwing up: “Fifty eggs gotta weigh a good six pounds…A man’s gut can’t hold that. They’ll swell up and bust him open…They’re gonna kill him.” Remarkably, Luke takes the challenge - it’s raining and the activity will pass the time: “It be somethin’ to do.” After a period of preparatory training, stretching his stomach’s skin to make room for the eggs (“What we gotta do is stretch that little ol’ belly of yours. Get all this stuff out of the way. Them eggs are coming down!”), and eating speed tests, Luke is about ready. He sits on his top bunk with a towel draped over his head [another Christ image]. > \ > As time is running out, and Luke approaches the elusive goal of 50 eggs, Dragline coaxes him on: “Just nine more between you and everlastin’ glory…Just little ol’ eggs. They pigeon eggs, that’s all.” The men mimic his chewing action. Up until the last second, it is uncertain whether he has swallowed the last egg. After his winning victory, Luke is laid out on a table strewn with egg shells. The men quickly forget about him and abandon him after using him for their own amusement. Luke is left alone - from an overhead shot, his arms are outstretched, his legs are crossed at the ankle, his eyes are closed, and his head is tilted toward the left - [a symbolic Christ-like crucifixion pose]. An enigmatic grin crosses his face. Dirks has extensive rundowns on hundreds of films. The valuable aspect of them is that they describe the plots and scenes quite thoroughly and include nearly all the famous quotes. He also often gives a good history of the film. The real entertainment comes from his stretching to find symbolism in random objects and occurences combined with purple prose. He never shrinks from stating the obvious, though, often devoting a sentence to summarizing the one sentence quote that follows. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/23 "2005-12-28T03:59:41Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > Actually, it’s not exactly wrong. The phrase is first said by Captain early in the film, sans the “a”. However, Luke mocks Captain with the line while trapped in the church near the end and includes the “a”. And in ads in newspapers from late that year, it is publicized as “a failure to communicate.” Which makes much more sense to the average person, hearing it for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/24 "2005-12-28T09:49:28Z")
> [@zagloba](#): > > Did you know that _Cool Hand Luke_ is really a Christian allegory? Learn more about this and other surprising facts about this film from Tim Dirks’ [rundown on filmsite.org:](http://www.filmsite.org/cool.html) > Dirks has extensive rundowns on hundreds of films. The valuable aspect of them is that they describe the plots and scenes quite thoroughly and include nearly all the famous quotes. He also often gives a good history of the film. > > The real entertainment comes from his stretching to find symbolism in random objects and occurences combined with purple prose. He never shrinks from stating the obvious, though, often devoting a sentence to summarizing the one sentence quote that follows. But, did he make any mention of luke singing his favorite little ditty? “I don’t care if it rains or freezes, ‘long as I got my plastic Jesus settin’ on the dashboard of my car…” Until I saw the movie, I thought that was the whole ditty. IIRC, he sang at least a couple verses. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/25 "2005-12-28T10:42:47Z")
I didn’t know it _was_ in a G’n’R song, and I use it all the time: it used to be a catch-phrase for particularly dumb students in the English school where I worked in Japan. That, and “Do you expect me to talk?” ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/26 "2005-12-28T12:16:11Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Before, easily. That was a popular movie, and filled with quotable quotes. Yet you left out one of the most quoted lines “calling it your job don’t make it right.” And **Shakes** , you can tell your friend my first thought on reading your OP was “Are you friggin’ kidding me?!” 😃 They honestly think a song release 23 years after the move - which I’ve only heard twice - popularized that line from a classic? His/her belief isn’t _too_ far removed from kids thinking the Police ripped off Biggie G. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/27 "2005-12-28T12:42:08Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > Actually, it’s not exactly wrong. The phrase is first said by Captain early in the film, sans the “a”. However, Luke mocks Captain with the line while trapped in the church near the end and includes the “a”. Yeah, and look what happened to him after that. The moral of the movie: Never misquote the Captain 😉 ---
**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:** [December 28, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/28 "2005-12-28T15:26:47Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > “Do you expect me to talk?” “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!” ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/29 "2005-12-28T16:20:43Z")
Strother Martin, playing “Captain, Road Prison 36” says: > [@](#): > > What we’ve got here is… failure to communicate. Some men you just can’t reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it… well, he gets it. I don’t like it any more than you men. (from [the IMDB](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061512/quotes)). The problem here is a failure to communicate, because it’s text, ya know? What we need is an actual [sample of the audio](http://zingy.vo.llnwd.net/aacl/sample.php?oem=2551714&kind=wt&code=00059&frmt=9&trgt=8). ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/30 "2005-12-28T16:53:28Z")
> [@NoCoolUserName](#): > > What we need is an actual [sample of the audio](http://zingy.vo.llnwd.net/aacl/sample.php?oem=2551714&kind=wt&code=00059&frmt=9&trgt=8). And [here](http://new.wavlist.com/movies/201/) is the money quote from the film (click on the last link), where it clearly is “a failure to communicate.” Here’s a direct link to the wav file: [http://new.wavlist.com/movies/201/chl-lastwords.wav](http://new.wavlist.com/movies/201/chl-lastwords.wav) ---
**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:** [December 28, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/31 "2005-12-28T19:59:09Z")
“That’s one small step for failure…” ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/32 "2005-12-28T20:36:44Z")
Re: the possibly missing “a”: What we have here is a failure to enuciate. ---
**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:** [December 28, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/33 "2005-12-28T20:45:24Z")
> [@zagloba](#): > > Did you know that _Cool Hand Luke_ is really a Christian allegory? Learn more about this and other surprising facts about this film from Tim Dirks’ [rundown on filmsite.org:](http://www.filmsite.org/cool.html) > Dirks has extensive rundowns on hundreds of films. The valuable aspect of them is that they describe the plots and scenes quite thoroughly and include nearly all the famous quotes. He also often gives a good history of the film. > > The real entertainment comes from his stretching to find symbolism in random objects and occurences combined with purple prose. He never shrinks from stating the obvious, though, often devoting a sentence to summarizing the one sentence quote that follows. Dirks goes overboard, true, but there’s really no question that CHL was intended as a pretty hamhanded Christian allegory. ---
**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:** [December 28, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/34 "2005-12-28T20:46:40Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Someone should have correct the teacher. There is no “a” before “failure”. It’s just, “what we have here is failure to communicate”. A common mistake. As is your misquote, John. As has been pointed out above, the actual quote is “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/35 "2005-12-28T21:14:48Z")
Just in case anyone’s interested, here’s [a recent article](http://www.keepmedia.com/pubs/Esquire/2005/09/01/998589?page=1) on Donn Pearce, the man who created Cool Hand Luke. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/36 "2005-12-28T22:15:07Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > Now _that_ one is actually “We don’t need **to show you** no stinkin’ badges!” It was a combination of both, actually: “Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges!” --Gold Hat (Alfonso Bedoya) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/37 "2005-12-28T22:27:22Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Someone should have correct the teacher. There is no “a” before “failure”. It’s just, “what we have here is failure to communicate”. A common mistake. Correct **ed**. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/38 "2005-12-29T15:01:20Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > As is your misquote, John. As has been pointed out above, the actual quote is “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.” The actual quote is: “What we got here is a failure to communicate.” ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/39 "2005-12-29T15:23:18Z")
It depends on what the meaning of “a” is. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340/40 "2005-12-29T15:31:47Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > The actual quote is: “What we got here is a failure to communicate.” In post #11 > [@Homebrew](#): > > Actually, it’s not exactly wrong. The phrase is first said by Captain early in the film, sans the “a”. However, Luke mocks Captain with the line while trapped in the church near the end and includes the “a”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-have-here-is-failure-to-comunicate/337340.md?page=3)