It might have taken more than four decades, but the penny has finally dropped for fans of Only Fools and Horses.
The iconic British sitcom might be a laugh a minute which is brimming with comedy gold, but not all viewers understood some of the jokes which featured in the hit BBC show.
Hence why it’s taken a good 43-years for some fans to work out what one of Del Boy’s punchlines meant.
In the very first episode of Only Fools and Horses, which was originally broadcast in September 1981, viewers were introduced to the hilarious wheeler-dealer played by David Jason and his love for get-rich-quick schemes.
He’d just managed to shift a load of one-legged turkeys from the back of his three-wheeled van, so he reckons that the next supply of dodgy goods that his pal Trigger (Roger Lloyd Pack) is touting will be a doddle to get rid of.
The duo meet up down the Nag’s Head to discuss the deal, which involves some ‘Old English vinyl’ briefcases, but brother Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst) isn’t so keen on the idea.
Take a look at this to refresh your memory:
Ah, they just don’t make shows like that anymore, do they?
Which might be a good thing for some people, seen as though it’s took them four decades to work out what Del Boy was talking about in the scene.
Trigger explains that he has 25 of the briefcases for sale and goes on to say that he had decided to carry one into the boozer ‘openly’ so that it doesn’t look ‘conspicious’.
Obviously, he got his wires crossed and ended up using a combination of the words conspicuous and suspicious to describe his approach to handling the stolen goods – but this isn’t the joke which went over viewers heads.
Instead, it’s Del Boy’s retort which left people baffled.
Fans are only just clicking onto what a joke from the first ever episode of Only Fools and Horses meant (BBC)
He sarcastically replies: “That’s good thinking that Trig, pretty good thinking. It goes so well with your slingback wellington boots and your off the shoulder jacket. You look like an executive hod carrier.”
Although it was clear to understand that Del Boy wasn’t impressed by Trigger’s approach to being subtle about the business deal, a lot of people didn’t get the end part of his pun.
But thankfully, an expert Only Fools and Horses fan has finally explained it.
In a Reddit thread where viewers can discuss ‘jokes or storylines’ that they didn’t quite comprehend from the series, one person plucked up the courage to admit they still didn’t know what an ‘executive hod carrier’ was 43-years later.
“What the hell is he saying exactly? I get executive, that’s part of the joke, but what the hell is a ‘hod carrier’…assuming that’s what he even said,” they wrote.
Here’s what a hod carrier looks like, for those still unsure (Jean-Francois Cardella/Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images)
Enter a fan fluent who reckons their fluent enough in Del Boy’s language to decipher it for the rest of us.
Explaining the punchline, the social media user wrote: “A hod is a tool used on building sites to carry multiple bricks at once, it is typically slung over the shoulder.
“Del comments based on what Trig is wearing (rather than the clothes fitting in the case), that carrying a briefcase looks more suspicious than carrying a package.”
So, there you have it – after four long decades, we can all finally sleep peacefully tonight.
Shoutout to the unsung heroes of the building world too.
