Ross: So were you in Nam?
Richard looks annoyed and answers nothing. Audience laughs. I tryed googling the "Nam" word, but it returns nothing that helps getting the joke. Does anyone know what is the "Nam" here?
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it refers to the Vietnam war. the war is commonly called the "Nam" in the US
ReplyDeleteThank you! Normally I would expect a shortening like that being done with the first letters of a word.
DeleteIt's because Richard was played by Tom Selleck, who played Magnum PI, who had fought in "Nam"....
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ReplyDeleteIt's also a meta-joke because Tom Selleck's character in Magnum is Vietnam veteran.
ReplyDeleteI still don't quite get this as Richard looks annoyed like the question is insulting, I thought Ross was mocking his age. But as the war was 55-75 it is quite possible for Richard (Tom Selleck was born in 45) to have fought and could well have been in the war. Maybe I'm reading too much into Richards reaction to the question and he was just fed up of Ross' small talk.
ReplyDeleteyeah i thing it is the case since Richard is their father friend, and i believe in 1 episode their father made a joke about being in the war him self, so from age respective i think Richard could have been in the war, but he was annoyed from the small talk as you said
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