A Few Idioms: To Stop Short
English

A Few Idioms: To Stop Short

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literature
language learning
comedy
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Today I think I learnt what stopping short means. You know, I came across this reel on Facebook with an excerpt of Seinfeld. It shows a scene where George's father is furious with Kramer and wants to beat the shit out of him for "stopping short with his wife." A short while before, we watched Kramer driving Mrs. Costanza back from the beauty parlor. The ride was along an avenue with heavy traffic, and at some point Kramer suddenly hits the brakes and holds Mrs. Costanza beside him with his free arm in order to (we have to assume) prevent her head from hitting the windscreen. Later on, already at home, Mrs. Costanza boasts of her new look in front of her husband--she's sure it makes her look much younger, and that it even drove Kramer to hit the brakes just to have the occasion--you, know--to touch her breast.

In an explosion of temper, we later see the furious Frank Costanza (played by Jerry Stiller) bursting into Seinfeld's appartment and crying out for Kramer. Now, there's something that makes me wonder whether stopping short is a common expression in the aforementioned sense or not, since when Frank explains the whole thing to Seinfeld and Elaine, they don't seem to grasp the meaning of it at first. Is it slang--NY slang for that matter? What do you say?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLqmHhpRqng

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