Just as Sylvester Stallone has remained a champion for over 30 years in Rocky, Bruce Willis has remained the world’s most fearless cop for 25 years in Die Hard. The first Die Hard film, released in 1988, continued until 2013’s Die Hard 5: A Good Day to Die Hard, spanning 25 years.
Die Hard is essentially a simple action movie that brings entertainment by changing locations while maintaining a similar storyline each time. Events in Die Hard always occur on holidays like Christmas Eve or Independence Day, when everyone else is off having fun. The setting of the story progressively expands. Reflecting the societal phenomenon of Japan sweeping up American real estate at the time, the backdrop of the first Die Hard film made in 1988 was the Nakatomi Building. Die Hard 2 takes place at an airport, Die Hard 3: Die Hard with a Vengeance is set in Manhattan, New York, and Die Hard 4 covers the entire United States.
Anyway, the protagonist of the movie, John McClane (Bruce Willis), always ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time, facing terrorists and going through hell. This fact is known to the audience and even the terrorists from the first Die Hard film onward.
Grant: You’re the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time.
John McClane: Story of my life. Die Hard 2
Thomas Gabriel: On your tombstone it should read, “Always in the wrong place at the wrong time”.
John McClane: How about, “Yippee-ki-yay, motherfu – ” Die Hard 4
You’re the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. As seen in this example, in Korean, expressions that include the concept of time naturally come first in the sentence. On the other hand, English speakers usually place expressions of time at the end of the sentence. Time may be a very important concept to Koreans. In many cases, it precedes the place and is often located at the very beginning of the sentence to first set the temporal context. Meanwhile, in English, expressions indicating time are generally located at the end of the sentence.
For instance, when saying “I will meet a friend tonight” in Korean, the time expression “오늘 저녁에” (this evening) comes at the beginning of the sentence. In contrast, in English, we say “I will meet a friend tonight,” placing the time expression “tonight” at the end of the sentence. This is summarized in our word order formula:
S+V + (who+what) + [where+why+how+when]
Charlie: I have to get to LA, I should’ve been there this afternoon, my business needs me. I gotta make up some time. <Rain Man>
It’s uncertain whether it’s less important, but expressions of time are indeed always lower in the hierarchy of curiosity in English expressions. Perhaps it’s because the verb might imply the timing. Anyway, the simplest way to express time is, of course, to use adverbs that mean “when,” and if such words are not available, one must create them using prepositions in the same way one would create adverbs of place.
Commonly, nouns that include the concept of time such as day, night, morning, yesterday, today, tomorrow are used directly as adverbs of time.
KITTY: I was reading a book the other day. <DINNER AT EIGHT, 1933>
Other adverbs indicating time include now, then, early, late, before, ago, and expressions used idiomatically or in combination with other words like overnight, all night, anytime, etc.
Personnel Officer: Wanna work uptown nights? South Bronx? Harlem?
Travis Bickle: I’ll work anytime, anywhere.
Personnel Officer: Will you work Jewish holidays?
Travis Bickle: Anytime, anywhere. <Taxi Driver>
If the right word cannot be found among adverbs, one must create it. This is where prepositions come into play. The prepositions at, on, in, used for space, also apply similarly for time. The preposition at is used for specific times like at 10 o’clock, at 9:30, at night, at noon, at age fifty, similar to how it indicates a specific location in space. The preposition in is used for times with some duration between them, like in March, in the spring, in 2000, in the 21st century, in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening.
Dorothy: You had me at “hello.” (JERRY MAGUIRE: 1996)
At implies the moment of saying hello. In contrast, in is used when there is, albeit short, a duration of time between moments.
Matt Farrell: [running to a bleeding John McClane] You okay? John McClane: I’ll let you know in a minute. <Die Hard 4>
LT. COL. BILL KILGORE: I love the smell of napalm in the morning. (APOCALYPSE NOW: 1979)
MAXIMUS: Father to a murdered son. Husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next. <GLADIATOR, 2000>
On the other hand, the preposition on is used for dates and times that are somewhat longer but specifically designated, such as on Sunday. Therefore, even if it’s morning or afternoon, if a specific time is designated, it’s expressed as ‘on this morning’ instead of ‘in this morning’. The following is what Forrest Gump says to his deceased wife Jenny.
Forrest Gump: You died on a Saturday morning. And I had you placed here under our tree. <Forrest Gump>
When expressing more than one point in time, just like with place, it’s common to express the specific time before the longer duration. This is because that’s the priority for English speakers.
Tessio: We’ll need ’em now. After the hospital thing, Sonny got mad. We hit Bruno Tattaglia at four o’clock this morning. <The Godfather>
Other prepositions frequently used in relation to time include within, after, till, by, since, for, during, though.
ELWOOD P. DOWD: Well, I’ve wrestled with reality for thirty-five years, Doctor, and I’m happy to state I finally won out over it. <HARVEY, 1950>
After is used as a preposition along with nouns, but it is also often used as a conjunction meaning “after ~.” Before is used similarly to after, but its meaning is the exact opposite.
GOD: The last miracle I did was the 1969 Mets. Before that, I think you have to go back to the Red Sea. <OH, GOD!, 1977>
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