Marina
Could someone help me to understand what’s the definition of “frame” in this situation, please? I’m little bit worried about this being a little bit stupid question but here it goes. I was watching South Park recently and there was a scene in which Eric Cartman tries to convince his friends to kill his mother. He brought a paper board in which he drew all his plan and in the end of his scheme, there was a crime scene with this sentence on it: “frame Token” and I never knew about this word. By guessing, I would say that frame supposed to be something about Token (another character) to incriminate him (like a personal object maybe?) but since I wasn’t sure I decided to search (I think that not knowing what this word means affected my perspective about the comicity of the situation). So I faced at least 2 billions of definitions and all of them seemed weird to me. Finally, my question is: according to your interpretation what frame would be? Thank you in advance.
Sep 11, 2021 11:14 PM
Answers · 15
4
It sounds like Cartman had on his to do list the task, "Frame Token". To frame someone is to set up a situation so that it appears that an innocent person (Token in this case) is guilty of a crime (killing Cartman's mother) that he did not actually commit, thereby taken the attention off of the real guilty person (Cartman). "I was framed" is an argument that many people make when they are arrested. Sometimes it might even be true! I hope that helps.
September 11, 2021
1
Hey I think it might be like an instruction to Frame Token who is a character
September 11, 2021
1
For me, I like to find connections between different uses of words. It helps me better remember them. The word "frame" can mean many things. I think generically a "frame" is an edge or boundary to something. A "picture frame" is a border around a picture, painting, or photo. This is a literal interpretation of frame. But then there are metaphorical uses of "frame. For example, to "frame a question" means to add context, or set the scene, or provide relevant background information needed for an audience to understand or appreciate a question. The example you are interested in is to "frame a person" (in this case, Token), which as others have said, means to make someone look like they are guilty of something (for example, guilty of a crime, but it could also be a lesser offence like taking someone's pencil without asking permission). All of these uses of "frame" mean something like "stage setting" (as in, setting up a stage for a performance). In the case of a painting, the stage is the border or background for the painting. In the case of framing a question, the stage is the background context/information. In the case of framing a person for a crime, the stage is evidence that suggests the person is guilty. In that sense, one is "setting the stage" to make it look like they are guilty (whether or not they are guilty).
September 12, 2021
1
You guessed,or deduced, correctly! Well done. Frame (here) is a verb. It means to make it look like an other person committed (did) the crime .
September 12, 2021
You're welcome!
September 12, 2021
Still haven’t found your answers?
Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!