Tag team, soaking wet

Posted by TheFallen on May 01, 2003

In Reply to: Slang and pun posted by Miri Barak on May 01, 2003

: As usual I turn to you in need:
: it's Crime Scene Investigation:

: the police finds four murdered poeple: a father, a mother, two brothers inside a house. two sisters are found alive, and one policeman says to the other:

: "Teen girl heard a noise, his in the closet. Alerted the neighbors after all the shoutin' was done. Younger sister's over there. They couldn't've killed their father tag team, soaking wet."

:
: I don't have a clue what he means by "their father tag team" and "soaking wet". I have a feeling that it is some pun. I know that wet is a slang for weak, and tag team is a slang for a gang, taken from wrestling. But these are only guesses.
: Thank you for your help
: Miri

The policeman is stating that there's no way that the two sisters remaining alive can be responsible for the murders, or specifically the murder of the father, and therefore by implication for any of the murders.

You're right about "tag team" - it's a wrestling reference for a match involving two or more wrestlers on each team. To "tag team" is to gang up together on someone. To "double team" someone is a very similar idiom, also taken from the world of sports.

The "soaking wet" part is a little more esoteric. It's taken from an humorous expression used to describe lightweight, weak or puny people - "He can't weigh more than 120 pounds, and that's soaking wet." - stemming from the fact that one would indeed weigh more (in one's clothes) if one were soaking wet.

So the cop's saying that the two sisters weren't strong enough to have murdered their father even if they acted in concert.