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        general >> wanted >> The dead rabbit's grave
        
(Message started by: Thomas on Feb 8^th, 2005, 3:01am)

Title: The dead rabbit's grave
Post by Thomas on Feb 8^th, 2005, 3:01am

I'm reading this English play i'm trying to translate, and the man in the play just found out his old lover he hasn't seen for a year, is pregnant. He is dumbfounded.

She: Are you okay, pal?
He: I'm fine. I'm a little surprised.
She: You're surprised. I insisted on visiting the dead rabbit's grave!

What on earth does she mean by that? Google has some links to the expression 'dead rabbit's grave', but I still can't figure out what is meant by this.

Anyone who can help me out here?

Thomas

Title: Re: The dead rabbit's grave
Post by towr on Feb 8^th, 2005, 6:54am

Is there any more context? Because it's hard to see even how she said it.

And, please don't feel the need to open a new thread for every question about this play. It's perfectly all right to reuse your old thread. Preferable even. ::)

Title: Re: The dead rabbit's grave
Post by Thomas on Feb 8^th, 2005, 7:02am

There's no more context reffering to the matter, since they switch to another. But I was thinking that the phrase 'You're surprised. I insisted on visiting the dead rabbit's grave!' must refer in some way to her feeling much more surprised - being the one pregnant - than him. Haven't figured out how, though.

Thomas.

Title: Re: The dead rabbit's grave
Post by towr on Feb 8^th, 2005, 7:09am

Well, I would hazard to guess it would be something that normally precludes getting pregnant.. Contraceptive or other. But which, and how, I don't know..
Is it a British or an American play? And where are the characters from? (Might it be something like cockney rhyming slang for instance?)

Title: Re: The dead rabbit's grave
Post by Thomas on Feb 8^th, 2005, 7:19am

It's an American play, called 'Same Time, Next Year' by Bernard Slade. It played for several years on Broadway, back in the seventies. In 1978 it was made into a movie starring Ellen Burstyn and Alan Alda. It is set in California and the two people in the play are both American.
So I'm afraid that doesn't bring us any closer to the dead rabbit's grave, does it.

Title: Re: The dead rabbit's grave
Post by asterix on Feb 8^th, 2005, 7:21am

I assume it refers to the fact that at one time they used rabbits to test for pregnancy (at least I saw them do that on an episode of M*A*S*H). After an injection of the woman's blood the rabbit had to be dissected to examine its ovaries to see if the right hormones were present.
Visiting the rabbit's grave would mean demanding proof that she really had the test and she really is pregnant.

Title: Re: The dead rabbit's grave
Post by asterix on Feb 8^th, 2005, 7:29am

A little mistake; it was injected with her urine, not her blood. Instead of googling "dead rabbit's grave." Try googling "the rabbit died." You'll find plenty of pregnancy references.

Title: Re: The dead rabbit's grave
Post by Thomas on Feb 8^th, 2005, 7:31am

That's a plausible explanation, yes. I was also thinking about contraceptives. The scene in which the lady mentions the dead rabbit is set in 1961. Maybe in those days they didn't have latex yet for manufaturing condoms. I've read somewhere that back in the first days of condoms they used pig bladders to do the job. Maybe in the US they used rabbits.... Just a wild guess.

Title: Re: The dead rabbit's grave
Post by asterix on Feb 8^th, 2005, 7:32am

Oh, and contrary to the MASH episode, they didn't examine the rabbit's ovaries. The pregnancy hormone is fatal to rabbits, so if the rabbit dies she's pregnant, if it lives she's not.

Title: Re: The dead rabbit's grave
Post by Thomas on Feb 8^th, 2005, 7:52am

Well done, Asterix. I found the answer thanks to you. The rabbit test as a pregnancy test is an urband leggend. It's all explained at http://www.snopes.com/pregnant/rabbit.htm
And what a coincidence, I mentioned Allan Alda playing in the movie that was made of the play, and on this site they mention that it was on an episode of M*A*S*H* that Radar (remember the funny little guy) explained how the rabit test worked, since Hot Lips thinks she's pregnant. Well, thanks everybody for helping me out on this.

Title: Re: The dead rabbit's grave
Post by towr on Feb 8^th, 2005, 8:03am

Ah, makes sense now.. She wanted to make sure the rabbit really died.

It's similar to the frog-test than.. (I think that's also better known in dutch :P)

Title: Re: The dead rabbit's grave
Post by Icarus on Feb 8^th, 2005, 4:38pm

You people are too young!:( "The rabbit died" has long been a cliche for pregnancy exactly because of the test (which, as snopes and M*A*S*H both point out, was always fatal for the rabbit since it required extraction of the ovaries). I guess that advancement is leaving this cliche behind.

on 02/08/05 at 07:31:12, Thomas wrote:

I was also thinking about contraceptives. The scene in which the lady mentions the dead rabbit is set in 1961. Maybe in those days they didn't have latex yet for manufaturing condoms. I've read somewhere that back in the first days of condoms they used pig bladders to do the job. Maybe in the US they used rabbits.... Just a wild guess.

No. latex - a form of rubber - has been around for centuries, and used for condoms for nearly as long, I'm sure.

Title: Re: The dead rabbit's grave
Post by Sjoerd Job Postmus on Mar 18^th, 2005, 4:28am

on 02/08/05 at 08:03:35, towr wrote:

Ah, makes sense now.. She wanted to make sure the rabbit really died.

It's similar to the frog-test than.. (I think that's also better known in dutch :P)

Yeah, except the rabbit test approximately takes 6 weeks(while other resources yield a shorter period, I don't know), while the frog test would give the result in under a day.

I won't post my resource, most of you probably fail to understand dutch anyway, I assume.