The People Called It Ragtime!

I'd like to analyze two famous quotes by Humphrey Bogart.

"Here's looking at you, kid."

'Here's' is contraction of "Here is". The next word, looking, combines with "is" to make "is looking", which is a progressive verb. The first three words, then, are a complete thought. The person "Here is looking". Here is looking, but at what? "at you, kid." The person Here, then is looking at a child. The entire thought obviously means that the person Here is looking at a child. Why would here be looking at a child? Maybe you should watch the movie and find out!


“A hot dog at the ball park is better than steak at the Ritz.”

"hot dog" is a canine who's body temperature has elevated above normal. "at the ball park" explains where the "hot dog" was - a parking lot in front of the building hosting the ball. "is better than" is a comparative statement. "steak" is dead cow. "at the Ritz." explains where the dead cow is. The entire statement literally reads that a dog in pain in a parking lot outside a ball is better than a dead cow inside a better place. Metaphorically, this means that being alive is better than being dead.