MovieChat Forums > White Christmas (1954) Discussion > What's the word Gen. Waverly wants Bob t...

What's the word Gen. Waverly wants Bob to skip?

posted 12 years ago by wrfarley
7 replies | jump to latest

When Bob reads the letter sent to Gen. Waverly from his friend at the Pentagon, it opens with the felicitation, "Dear Tom, you old ..." Gen. Waverly promply prevents Bob from speaking what is obviously a curse word. I was thinking what could that word be. Could it be:

"Dear Tom, you old s.o.b..." or could it be

"Dear Tom, you old b-----d." or

"Dear Tom, you old m----------r!" or even

"Dear Tom, you old piece of ----"

Any ideas what epithets would be suitable between Army officers for 1950's correspondence?

[–] jackboot 12 years ago

Farley, you old muckraker, you! Always stirring up trouble!

I would vote for "S.O.B." or "bastard" as the most likely terms of "endearment" in the letter from his old friend and colleague at the War Dept. "Bastard" would have gone nicely with some kind of additional adjective before it, say, "you old grizzled bastard" or such.

[–] wrfarley 12 years ago

Well, s.o.b. was a favorite invective of Gen. Patton, but I don't recall him saying it to Field Marshal Montgomery or Gen. Bradley's face. The general who wrote Tom is obviously a contemporary and feels free to use that language in his otherwise subtle epistle. Even Bob doesn't realize the intent of the letter until Gen. Waverly tells him, "He's saying they can't use me. We're not fooling each other." This insight from a letter in which the writer opens by calling Waverly a "----!" I don't know.

[–] Bilwick1 12 years ago

*beep*

[–] wrfarley 10 years ago

Could it possibly be, "Dear Tom, you as-ho-e?"

[–] Bilwick1 10 years ago

It was more than just one word. It read, "Tom, I wish I knew how to quit you . . ." Waverly knew immediately the writer was referring to one magical night they spent together in a tent in the Aleutians, and so was eager for Bob to skip past it.

[–] ManWithDaPlan 10 years ago

I have been watching this movie every year since forever and I have never thought he stopped him because he was about to say any curse word. I just thought he understood that when the letter went into "you old..." he wasn't getting allowed back into service and instead was being reminded right off the bat he is indeed old now and trying to let him down in a joking type of way.

[–] wrfarley 9 years ago

"You old fart?" Maybe?