Etymology

ve haf vays of making you talk

Today it means: A catchphrase, usually delivered in a mock German accent, implying a threat of torture to extract information. Full definition →

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The story

A parody of archetypal German pronunciation of "We have ways of making you talk", coupled with the image of World War II-era interrogation. A comedic play on the phrase "We have ways to make men talk." from the 1935 movie The Lives of a Bengal Lancer. Perhaps that 1935 line contributed to an even nearer version in the 1950 WWII film Odette. A Germanic interrogator (played by Guyri Wagner) tells an uncooperative Odette, “We have ways and means of making you talk.”

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.