2

I was watching Pretty Little Liars, season 1 episode 18 (here is this scene on youtube) and there's a phrase I don't understand. Characters recently had an awkward moment, when Hanna had to get in the shower when Caleb was there to avoid being seen by her mother. In the scene I linked they are discussing it and after assuming Hanna "wasn't ready to see that much of him" Caleb says:

"What, and now you think you have to throw down too?"

What does "throw down" means here? I searched for translations of the phrasal verb, but none of them seem to fit. Urban dictionary didn't help as well.

The phrase is important to understanding the rest of their conversation, so I'd really like to know what he was trying to say.

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
5

This is not very standard phrasing, but I think he is talking about her taking off her clothes.

She accidentally saw him naked, so now he asks if she feels like she has to take off her clothes as well.

I'm not really familiar with this show, but since it appears to be from ABC Family, that might explain why they are using euphemisms.

"Throw down" can mean "fight," but from watching the clip, I do not believe that is the intended meaning here.

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    Concur. This is non-standard usage of "throw down" and would not be understood by any native speaker without the full context. But in that context, he is saying exactly what you said he is, as evidenced by the next lines ("it's okay if you don't... but it's okay if you do, too").
    – randomhead
    Dec 20, 2021 at 2:32
  • The etymology is "to throw down the gauntlet", which is one way knights challenged each other to duals in medieval Europe.
    – x58kamo
    Dec 20, 2021 at 16:59

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .