Tintin Forums

I was reading Destination Moon last night, as Tintin enters the rocket on page 57 he says to Snowy, "Between ourselves, I'm in a blue funk!"
I have never heard of such a phrase.
Does anyone know what it means, the origin of the phrase, why the translators used such a phrase?
Thanks
Rastaallan

In a funk is an old, but common expression, which means to be in a state of panic; a funk could be used to describe a person who is afraid; a coward. Blue means to be in a state of anxiety.

To be in a blue funk would mean you were scared out of your wits - as Tintin was before the launch!

But wasn't it Haddock who was completely nervous about going to the Moon?
Didn't he write that long letter called a will?

Take a look at page 59 of Destination Moon. They are all nervous!

Calculus worries he made a mistake in his calculations.

Tintin's heart beats so loud he can hear it!

Wolff sweats a lot and wonders how he got himself "entangled in this dreadful business", obviously a double meaning there.

Haddock looks the least worried about the launch actually. He sweats a bit and regrets he helped restore Calculus's memory.

Haddock looks the least worried about the launch actually.

I rather like that analysis.

Just playing Devil's Advocate here, but could it be that Hergé is trying to portray Haddock as the most naturally "courageous"?
Personally I tend to think that in the Moon adventure he comes across more as a fatalist - the "what will be will be" type of mentality.

On pages 55-56 of Explorers on the Moon, for example, when he takes solace in whisky: "Well, if I have to die, then at least let it be in the way I choose, blistering barnacles!".

Ed

he comes across more as a fatalist

It is amazing how, despite having undergone possibly months of astronaut training, Haddock holds so little faith in the "honky-tonk Calculus machine".

Of course, he changes his mind when they finally get to the Moon - "Old Calculus is an incredible fellow."

I think Haddock adds some really excellent (and much needed) humour to Destination Moon.

One of my favourite lines is, "You might as well play a penny whistle in front of Nelson's Column and expect it to dance the samba!" - classic!

Haddock is also probably the most used to risky voyages in a dangerous environment, given his career as a sailor...

Not to mention that Haddock has some moments with Tintin where one of them could have died (e.g. the desert scene in The Crab with the Golden Claws - I've read that you slowly "sleep to death" when you're dying of thirst (National Geographic, March 1999); The Shooting Star, when they're nearly rammed by that ship; and Prisoners of the Sun, when the Captain, Tintin, and Calculus are about to be burned to death).

He seems to have inherited an affinty to danger from Sir Francis Haddock (The Secret of 'The Unicorn')...

We say that in the Southeastern US too, but "blue funk" to us is more of a depressed state, kind of like what some call a "bummer" in the rest of the US.

Courtney

Yes, my girlfriend often uses a similar expression when I'm down in the dumps and she's trying to cheer me up ("Come on, don't be in such a funk...")