From the movie Godzilla (2014)
One day, I met a guy who runs a cargo boat offshore. Everyday he goes right past the reactor site. So, he places a couple frequency monitors on buoys for me. Two weeks ago, because I check this thing like every other day just for the kick in the teeth. Two weeks ago, I'm tuning in…
What does this expression mean? There is the expression kick in the teeth that's used to describe how badly you're being treated by someone, but it doesn't seem like that's what the person in the quote is saying.
Best Answer
There is a series of expressions in English starting with "just for" that mean "for no particular reason." Examples include:
One of these expressions is:
In this context, "a kick in the pants" means "fun".
Normally, "a kick in the teeth" as an idiom means something like "a sudden and devastating event" or "a painful setback". However, in this context, it takes on the meaning of the primary expression, and the primary meaning is still "for no particular reason."
The secondary implication is that the behavior is known to be unproductive or disappointing--that he's not checking for any particular reason, but he keeps doing it, even though he know he's going to be disappointed every time he checks.
So the sentence might be rephrased something like: