u better wipe that goddamn smile (or makeup) off your face

the idiom wipe that smile off your face, is the title of a video on  centered around  a disagreement about the importance of flags. the most important lesson in the vid is the phrasal verb wipe off (clean, remove).  wipe that smile off your face  is an aggressive way to tell someone they need to be more serious.

in the video u can hear the expression the shit used to show a strong positive feeling for flags. and better is used as a modal auxiliary verb to represent a threat–>i will knock the smile off your face (punch u in the face).

gay pride flag
gay pride flag (commons.wikimedia.org)

additionally, the words in the graphics present a contrast between the adjective proud (satisfied–flags make us feel proud) and the noun pride (satisfaction–flags are a manifestation of our pride).

fun efl practice 🚩 richyrocks english on youtube

finally, the differing opinions about flags lead to an awkward (uncomforatble) interpersonal moment and an effort to literally remove a smile by wiping.

this video from the  popular and critically acclaimed (receives good reviews) comedy central series inside amy schumer has another great example of wipe off. a fictional boy band serenades (sings to) amy.

at the beginning of the song, the boys tell her she doesn’t need makeup (cosmetics), convincing her at :55 to wipe it off.

wipe off make up
amy schumer wiping off her makeup 

after seeing amy with no makeup, the boys backtrack (change their mind,return to a previous opinion) and recommend at 1:30…

just get up an hour earlier and u can make yourself much girlier

make up can be used as a phrasal verb, but it’s more common to use the phrasal verb put on with makeup as the song does at 1:50. in this context, put on is the opposite of wipe off.

wipes to wipe withwipers that wipe

products for wiping: disinfecting wipes and windshield wipers

in this clip from the movie 12 monkeys, dr. kathryn railly (madeleine stowe) is giving a lecture (speech, talk) on madness and apocalyptic visions. she applies wipe off differently–as part of the idiom wipe off the face of the earth–to mean completely eliminate...

he claimed he had come from the future. that he was looking for a pure germ that would ultimately wipe mankind off the face of the earth.

 

brad pitt and bruce willis in 12 monkeys vocabulario en inglés

brad pitt and bruce willis in 12 monkeys

wipe can be used to mean clean (the verb). this clip includes a short tune (melody, song) from the first shrek movie where animatronic puppets sing

please keep off of the grass, shine your shoes wipe your…face

keep off means don’t walk there. shine means polish. there is a pause after wipe your…that makes it sound like the puppets are going to rhyme grass with ass. wipe ass is what people do after pooping.

toilet paper vocabulario en inglés

toilet paper, aka ass wipe is for cleaning poop 💩 (gompels.co.uk)

similarly, in this clip from the movie shark tale, don lino (robert deniro) tells his son to wipe his face.

after telling a knock knock joke based on wordplay with buddha and butter, michael (steve  carell) says…

i need something to wipe my hand

and then wipes his hand on a piece of bread.

the lyrics of lil baby‘s track close friends are highly educational. they contain 2nd conditional, 3rd conditional, used to + simple form of verb, ain’t, the phrasal verbs start off, take back and turn into and at 1:00 and 1:25, this example of wipe

just wipe your eyes and stop this cryin

and u2‘s call for an end to violence between protestants and catholics in ireland has an easy to identify singalong from 3:40 to 4:00 that says…

wipe your tears away (2x), wipe your bloodshot eyes, wipe your tears away

wipe and wipe away are similar ideas. wipe away means remove by wiping.

          

bloodshot eyes (essilorusa.com)

☝🏾which example is your favorite? do u know any other applications for wipe, wipe off or wipe away?  share your perspectives under leave a reply


 

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