had it vs been had: unforgettable examples with samuel l, malcolm x & the powerpuff girls

the expressions had it & been had look similar. both contain the past participle had, but they have different meanings.

sam jackson motherfuckin snakes had
samuel l. jackson with a motherfuckin snake

had it is used to show extreme frustration or irritation. it’s usually used with the present perfect structure.

the most famous line from the movie snakes on a plane, spoken by samuel l. jackson, is a great example

i’ve had it with these motherfuckin snakes on this motherfuckin plane

similarly (but without the adjective motherfuckin), in this clip from the bubblevicious episode of powerpuff girls, bubbles calls the girls’ nemesis mojo jojo a dumb, doo-doo brain (doo-doo is a nicer way to say shit or poop). this angers mojo jojo and he threatens bubbles by saying

that’s it!  i’ve had it with your sassy mouth

sassy means irreverent or disobedient; bubbles is not doing what mojo jojo wants.
mojo jojo had

in spike lee‘s biographical movie about 1960s civil rights activist malcom x, the title character (played by denzel washington) gives a speech in harlem (new york city) about the racism black people confront in the u.s. he describes how the white man pacifies harlem residents with politics, drugs & prostitution and he concludes his speech emphasizing the deceptive nature of the white man and the government (at 1:58) by telling the audience…

you’ve been had, u been took, u been hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amok

different than had it, been had means cheated, deceived.hoodwinked and bamboozled are other ways to say tricked.

native speakers often substitute the past tense for the past participle of irregular verbs.  for this reason x says u been took instead of the more grammatically accepted you’ve been taken.

fun efl practice :) richyrocks english on youtube

additionally, the present perfect structure is reduced in x’s speech, i.e. sounds are omitted. it’s common to write and speak u have with the contraction you’ve. this is then reduced from you’ve been to u been; the ‘ve isn’t pronounced. this reduction of the “v” sound is common in english.

bamboozled had
spike lee also directed an excellent satire about race & american television called bamboozled.

lead astray doesn’t necessarily indicate an intent to deceive. it can be an influence that leads to bad decisions. but in this speech it is another synonym for trick.

transformers runamuck had
runamuck is a violent decepticon in the transformers saga.

run amok (sometimes run amuck) is a different idea. it means cut loose, go crazy or violent, out of control behavior.

hoodwinked had
the animated movie hoodwinked is an alternative version of little red riding hood.

have u had it with something that is going on in the world right now? is there something in your daily life that makes u feel like you’ve been had? hoodwinked? bamboozled? share your observations under leave a reply


 

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