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Watching Columbo, S02E04 Dagger of the Mind and this exchange takes place between Columbo and a Detective. They are in a gentleman's club, leather furniture, bookcases of old books, butler, etc.

Detective: Would you, uh, care to sit here?
Columbo: When you said "club," I thought you meant a country club or a health club.
Detective: Mm. Bit stuffy, I'm afraid. Hasn't changed since Father's day.
Columbo: My father was an Elk once, till my mother stopped him.
Detective: Ah.

It is quite hard to hear what Columbo is saying but it sounds like he's saying "My father was an Elk once".

I don't know what this might mean though, in the context.

Michael Rybkin
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NibblyPig
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  • I don't think it changes answers much, but "gentleman's club" has significantly different meanings between Britain and America, although that distinction might be more cultural than linguistic. From the context provided, this appears to be a British gentleman's club. – Kamil Drakari Jan 23 '19 at 18:08
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    The capital E in Elk tells you that this is a proper noun, and since the conversation is about meeting at a club[house], you may surmise that they are related. It doesn't especially matter here that the Elks are a real organization. It could well have been a nickname, or a title, or a rank in some fictional outfit. If he had said My father was in the Purple People Eaters, till my mother stopped him, from context you would assume the Purple People Eaters was also related to the club setting. – choster Jan 23 '19 at 18:41
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    Sorry, @KamilDrakari Columbo was a detective show from the 70s and based in LA. Believe it or not, there still are a few gentlemen left in the USA...and some of them even have their own clubs. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Jan 23 '19 at 19:26
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    @Cascabel: On the other hand, to judge from the billboards that adorn freeways in Houston (and, I assume, many other fine U.S. cities), "gentleman's club" has acquired a more recent meaning that leans heavily toward general-admission venues featuring scantily clad dancers/hostesses. – Sven Yargs Jan 23 '19 at 20:32
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    @KamilDrakari How can you separate cultural from linguistic when discussing that distinction? – Azor Ahai -him- Jan 23 '19 at 21:58
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    Hmmnnh..@AzorAhai ....weak or strong Sapir-Whorf? – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Jan 23 '19 at 22:39
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    @choster This appears to be the OP transcribing the dialog, in which the OP is the one who put the capital in in the first place. – Acccumulation Jan 23 '19 at 23:44
  • @Acccumulation Nevertheless, it would seem to be a true and correct transcription. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Jan 24 '19 at 00:13
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    @Cascabel The point is that the OP cannot draw inferences from capitalization, if the capitalization was provided by the OP. – Acccumulation Jan 24 '19 at 15:52
  • Apologies for putting the capital, I'm not 100% certain on the audio since it's unclear but that's my transcription of what I heard, and I assumed it was an proper noun, rather than him being a type of animal, so I capitalised it. It is also possible that due to the unclear audio, that my transcription is incorrect. I listened to it several times. It's also more confusing in that the episode is about an American man flying to London, England in the 1970s – NibblyPig Jan 25 '19 at 14:06

1 Answers1

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The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the U.S.A. is a fraternal organization with nearly a million members and a 141-year history, according to their website.

drewhart
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  • In the UK and British commonwealth (including Canada) there is the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes which is even older and founded on similar princples. Could it be that the Elks were originally a copy of the Buffs? – BoldBen Jan 23 '19 at 16:29
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    @BoldBen It's possible, since buffalo was also considered for a name, but I doubt you can draw a direct line. There have been fraternal groups for a long time; BPOE is predated by the likes of the AOH and the Red Men, which in turn are predated by the Odd Fellows and Freemasons. – choster Jan 23 '19 at 17:09
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    There are Elks lodges, and Moose (my dad was a Moose) and, likely, Buffaloes as well. Remember the Flintstones? Fred and Barney were members of the Water Buffaloes. These organizations were social clubs and informal "insurance", as members would often provide assistance to "brothers" in need. – Rob Crawford Jan 23 '19 at 20:21
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    @RobCrawford: Don't forget the Honeymooners and their Raccoon Lodge. – Drew Jan 23 '19 at 22:22
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    And the Lions – Hot Licks Jan 24 '19 at 01:43
  • This seems like it's the correct answer, if they have a similiar set up of English 'gentlemen's clubs' – NibblyPig Jan 25 '19 at 14:05