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Here's the sentence from "How I met your mother"

Even if a dinosaur should poke his head out of my butt and consume this coffee table, I need you to roll with it, okay?

  1. what's the meaning of "should" here? Does this mean "have to"?

  2. what's the meaning of "poke his head out of my but"? I know what this sentence means : I poked my head out of the window. But I have no idea what "poke his head out of my butt".

  3. I don't get the meaning of "consume this table".Does this mean "eating a table"?

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  • Yet you were fine with roll with it (snickers).
    – lurker
    Jan 21, 2016 at 3:57

2 Answers 2

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  1. Should is used for:

Referring to a possible event or situation: 'if you should change your mind, I’ll be at the hotel.'

It is generally used to indicate a future event that has low possibility of happening like a dinosaur poking his head out of your butt. It is very unlikely to happen (impossible as dinosaurs became extinct a long time ago).

  1. The word butt means an anus.

I (a dinosaur) poked my (his) head out of the window (my anus).

  1. The verb consume means:

Eat, drink, or ingest (food or drink)

It would not be difficult to imagine a scene where a dinosaur swallows a table.

As lurker mentioned in the answer, hyperbole was used to emphasize the following sentence.

No matter what happens (in the future), I need you to roll with it.

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  • "It would not be difficult to imagine a scene where a dinosaur swallows a table." But it might be a bit difficult to imagine so large a dinosaur sticking its head out of your butt. Which is why the hyperbole is intended to be humorous (or at least absurd). Jan 25, 2016 at 2:47
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Should = "happens to..."

Poke his out out... = figurative speech.

Consume this table = eat this table.

This is analogous to the BrE slogan: "Keep calm and carry on". Conversationally: No matter what happens, and I am warning you that anything can and will happen, I need you to keep your cool.

See:

HYPERBOLE (noun)

1.exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

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