BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / "Couple of Lightweights?"

**Posted by SherlocklivesinOH** February 2, 2014 9:31 pm

I'm not familiar with the word "lightweights" in the context that Lestrade used it. It sounded like he was referring to their reaction to alcohol...they were so "light weight" that it affected them quickly and in an extreme way?

**Posted by Lily** February 2, 2014 9:37 pm

The term 'lightweight' simply refers to people who get drunk very quickly.

**Posted by Davina** February 2, 2014 10:44 pm

Yep, they cannot hold their drink well.

**Posted by Mnemosyne** February 6, 2014 11:08 am

As has been mentioned it it a derogatory comment flung at people who get drunk quickly, cannot hold their drink/have low alcohol tolerance.

The 'lightweights' comment made me think Lestrade was just being bitter over not being invited to the stag-do/pub crawl. Also explains why he screamed in John's ear whilst he had the mother of all hangovers. In this case it is Lestrade who is acting like a child (despite repeatedly insinuating that out of the two of them Sherlock is the childish one.)

**Posted by ancientsgate** February 6, 2014 8:25 pm

Mnemosyne wrote:
As has been mentioned it it a derogatory comment flung at people who get drunk quickly, cannot hold their drink/have low alcohol tolerance. The 'lightweights' comment made me think Lestrade was just being bitter over not being invited to the stag-do/pub crawl. Also explains why he screamed in John's ear whilst he had the mother of all hangovers. In this case it is Lestrade who is acting like a child (despite repeatedly insinuating that out of the two of them Sherlock is the childish one.)

Oh, I didn't clue in to any sense of childishness on Lestrade's part. I also didn't see it as derogatory, just more as teasing. I thought it was just one macho man taking a poke at a couple of other macho men, a seasoned cop teasing a couple of blokes who should have known better than end up in the drunk tank. I guess I took it more at face value, not being a guy and all. ??

**Posted by RavenMorganLeigh** February 10, 2014 11:42 pm

ancientsgate wrote:
Mnemosyne wrote:
As has been mentioned it it a derogatory comment flung at people who get drunk quickly, cannot hold their drink/have low alcohol tolerance. The 'lightweights' comment made me think Lestrade was just being bitter over not being invited to the stag-do/pub crawl. Also explains why he screamed in John's ear whilst he had the mother of all hangovers. In this case it is Lestrade who is acting like a child (despite repeatedly insinuating that out of the two of them Sherlock is the childish one.)
Oh, I didn't clue in to any sense of childishness on Lestrade's part. I also didn't see it as derogatory, just more as teasing. I thought it was just one macho man taking a poke at a couple of other macho men, a seasoned cop teasing a couple of blokes who should have known better than end up in the drunk tank. I guess I took it more at face value, not being a guy and all. ??

I got that Lestrade was doing the sort of macho guy/military kind of thing you do. Wonder if he knew that John spiked the drinks? It could also be that he knows that Sherlock doesn't tend to drink all that much, so the fact that they ended up in the drunk tank was probably John's fault.

**Posted by josabby** February 18, 2014 1:17 am

Lestrade seemed to simply be amused when he called Sherlock and John Lightweights. The situation of them trying to solve a mystery while drunk was pretty darn funny.

**Posted by ancientsgate** February 18, 2014 1:33 am

josabby wrote:
Lestrade seemed to simply be amused when he called Sherlock and John Lightweights. The situation of them trying to solve a mystery while drunk was pretty darn funny.

And in the scene in HLV when Sherlock and Mycroft were smoking outside their parents' house on Xmas, Sherlock accused Mycroft of being a lightweight smoker, although he didn't use the lightweight word.