At the end of the Servo Men’s Academy Choir Hymn host segment, Mike says something that I have never understood. When Tom breaks into the second frivolous song, Mike starts objecting humorously. But at the very end of the bit he says two words that I was hoping SOMEONE would be able to explain.
He starts by saying, “Rouse…” (pronounced ROW-SSS). Then right after he says, “Rrrrrrouse!” (pronounced like ‘mouse’). What the heck does this mean? Does anyone have any clue? I’ve heard this bit for years and never once has anyone been able to explain it.
Possibly a nod to one of Basil’s many meltdowns on Fawlty Towers, such as when he’s literally shooing the guests out of the hotel for pointing out what everyone knows: he’s a total jerk.
I think it’s the cadence of Mike’s delivery that supports this take, as well as the fact that he is saying “out , out!” just beforehand, which is what raus means in German.
German, at high volumes, bypasses cognitive centers and directly activates the primitive portions of the brain.
Have a teen-ager who is still in bed at noon? Stand in the doorway and shout “Wach auf! Wach auf! Raus! Raus! Angetreten! Kopf zurück! Brust raus! Augen gerade… aus!” at high volume and watch them tumble onto the floor and come to attention beside their bed even if they’ve never been in a military formation in their life.
True! My next-door neighbor is from Cologne and performed his compulsory service back in the 80s. I heard him yelling “Im laufschritt!” at his two grown boys the other day when they were doing some yard work or other. It took me back to my days living in Germany and watching a police unit or a reservist unit drilling in a field that my bedroom window overlooked.
Absolutely! German worked on both my hyperactive Labrador and my teenage son. When I switched to German they both knew that “the line” had been crossed and it was time to at least pretend to be penitent. The dog was always better at it than my son.