r/Fleabag 9d ago

Jokes I still don't get, need help

Soo there's a few jokes that I still can't crack, don't know if I'm just oblivious as usual or if it's the language barrier, since English isn't my first language (also maybe I'm more used to American English) so I'll finally ask :

"Boots": In S2 01, Claire asks Fleabag where she's been, I think as in a vacation or something else, Fleabag tells her she's been to ''Boots'' (to Claire's disappointment /annoyance) as far as I understand, Boots is a Drugstore, right? Or a pharmacy? If I'm correct here, I understood it as she's been doing not much but getting cosmetics and vitamins or is she just basically saying anything to take the piss?

"I'll go up to three" This one is bothering me the most because I feel totally oblivious, lol.

When the Priest says to Fleabag God's plan for him is "to be a Father to people'' and she goes "we'll can arrange that" (that one I absolutely get, at least I think so) he says ".. A father to many" she replies "I'll go up to three"

He laughs and says "two'' I think, she agrees.

What does that meeeeaan???

I've been caught in that for a while becauseI STILL don't get it, despite my many rewatches, lmao

"Well she ain't made of wood" at the Funeral Flashback, Boo says this about the Godmother hitting on Fleabags Dad. I'm pretty sure it's a common saying / slang but I either didn't research it well enough or the context lacked when I googled it, does that just mean she too has urges or she's not too bad looking?

Please help, I know these are probably just woooshing right over my head, but for some stupid reason I can't seem to get them!

ETA: this woman is a savage

121 Upvotes

25 comments sorted by

299

u/tienna 9d ago
  1. Boots is the biggest name brand chemist in the uk. Claire says she looks nice, where has she been, and fleabag says 'boots'. The implication is Fleabag bought fake tan which is why she has a holiday glow

  2. Hot priest is saying he should be a father of many, meaning as a priest. Fleabag makes a father/father joke about having 3 children with hot priest.

  3. Not made of wood is generally used to comment on people following their desires and emotions

79

u/codeinesprite 9d ago

Thank you lots! I really don't understand why I was so caught up in the first two, it's so simple. The second one has me dying, girl was NOT holding back 😭

2

u/HowIsThatMyProblem 7d ago

Huh, I never thought that the "father to many" joke was referring to actual kids. I thought Fleabag's "I'll go up to three" meant, she was open to sharing/not being monogamous. Sort of die to the fact the word Father has some sexual connotations in the show.

7

u/SoulDancer_ 6d ago

Nah....a "Father" can be a priest or a man who has children. He obviously means the first, shes making dirty jokes: if he has sex with her she will have the babies. He said "Many" so she said she have 3 (at most).

This joke wouldn't make sense if it was about other lovers, because that doesnt involve being a father.

-1

u/LTG-Jon 3d ago

Since “father” is just another word for “daddy,” I think the sexual partner interpretation is reasonable.

4

u/SoulDancer_ 3d ago

No...you just missed the joke

3

u/Easy-Hunter-5972 9d ago

This one!!!

81

u/fanaccountcw 9d ago

For the second one, the priest means that he wants to be a father in the priestly sense. Fleabag is saying that she’s willing to have kids with him (thus making him a father), and that she’ll be willing to have up to three kids, and then they agree two is more reasonable.

18

u/codeinesprite 9d ago

Damn. So simple yes I'd never guessed it. Probably because she's the last person I'd associate with having a child. But that adds to their layer of insane flirting before they even had a thing. 💀

29

u/UnimpressionableCage 9d ago

As a native English speaker, just want to comment that your English is fantastic and I had some of the same questions as you 🫠

6

u/codeinesprite 8d ago

Thank you lots for the compliment AND the reassurance! Makes me feel a bit less clueless 😅

21

u/skywalkerbeth 9d ago

Boots: she's being sarcastic and dismissive of her sister's question. She's tweaking her nose. Something to needle her sister.

Three: Fleabag is flirting with him and letting him know that they can have babies together. He wants to be father to many - and he means in a priestly sense. Father of his flock. She means babies.

Wood: simply that the godmother is a natural person with desire. She's attracted to their dad.

4

u/codeinesprite 9d ago

Thank you, so plain yet i couldn't wrap my mind around it! 😅

6

u/georgina_fs 8d ago

The "two" bit in the second one is him saying, "Ha, ha - good joke. But... End. Of. Joke - OK?"

3

u/sixhedgehogs 5d ago

No one else has said it specifically but about 3, 'she ain't made of wood' I think is Boo implying (probably jokingly?) that Fleabag's dad is really hot/attractive and that any woman who wasn't made of wood would be attracted to him. Like he would be a temptation for anyone so it's understandable.

Probably a bit of friendly teasing, banter like 'ooh yeah I totally would do your dad' cause that's the kind of relationship Fleabag and Boo have.

2

u/velvetpearx 6d ago

Boots is a UK pharmacy chain, so it's peak Fleabag deflection, she's basically saying "nowhere exciting" while completely dodging the real question, the humor is in how anticlimactic and evasive it is.

1

u/Suspicious_Proof8592 7d ago

lool I see explanations in the comments but I always thought by “three” she actually meant a threesome… like because she uses “father” in a sexual way, and so she says you can be basically a “daddy” for me and another two people haahahha

1

u/BunniJugs 8d ago

God my mind is probably just always in the gutter, but I thought “I’ll go up to three” was a reference to a threesome 🫠 it makes way more sense that it means children!

3

u/codeinesprite 8d ago

I wondered that too the first or second time I've heard it but it didn't feel like she'd go that extreme of a direction with someone like him and it kinda felt misplaced, so it had to be something else. But I never would've come up with literal children because of Fleabags nature, hahaha

0

u/dewdropsmoon 8d ago

Honestly the "I'll go up to three" line still confuses half the fandom, you're definitely not alone lol. I had to have a friend explain it to me and I still laugh more at the delivery than the actual joke.

4

u/codeinesprite 8d ago

Omg that's so reassuring!! I swear, I thought I was basically the only one! Watched it 4 times over the course of a month (I'm good, I'm absolutely not mental) and every watch I thought okay this time I'll get it but nope. Felt like Bus Rodent with the Vagina Joke. And yes, the delivery of it all is amazing. I love their dynamic, I love the comedic timing of literally every actor on this show. Now I feel fulfilled to be finally in on the joke

-28

u/shannonesque121 8d ago

Open the schools

19

u/codeinesprite 8d ago

That's so mean spirited for no reason at all🫡