Or: I don’t remember a panda in Star Trek: Enterprise
As was discussed in this thread, there are a few inside jokes and other references in the Trek threads that cause great confusion when newcomers stumble upon them.
So, for those either new to the boards or new to the Enterprise/Trek discussions, welcome! Here’s a handy dandy guide to some of the inside jokes and references that are tossed about by the “regulars”. Please add to the list of questions and answers if you come up with new ones.
[Disclaimer]
Before we start with the list, please keep in mind that I do not and can not speak for everyone who has posted in all of these threads. Any errors contained within this OP are entirely my fault and I appologize in advance for any mistakes, misstatements, or misattributions. All complaints must be filled out in triplicate and stapled to a $100.00 bill before sending them to me for my consideration. Thank you.
[/Disclaimer]
Please also consider the fact that, while we are fans, most of us are not ubergeeks that take this stuff as matters of life and death. Many of our posts are written with our tounges firmly planted in our cheeks and we are extremely fond of puns, parodies, non-sequiters, and other miscellaneous bad jokes. Sometimes there is no deeper meaning or inside joke.
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Lets start with the big one. The one that’s asked most often: Panda.
Panda was originally introduced by Enderw24 as “Pander the Panda” in a brief parody. Any gratuitous character or scene that has been added for the purpose of pandering to a portion of the audience can be referred to as “panda”, but it has come to almost exclusively be used to refer to sex, T&A, or other bits obviously inserted to titilate the viewers. -
Phaser cutting phasers: During one of the many hijacks, Wearia made an offhand joke mentioning many different types of non-existant phasers, including “phaser cutting phasers.” Tracer reacted unbelievingly but Carniverousplant, playing along, stated that they had first been mentioned in the Original Series episode, “Devil in the Dark”. Tracer, in a demonstration of credulity not often found in these threads, then went to great llengths to procure a copy of “Devil in the Dark” in order to verify the line where “phaser cutting phasers” was mentioned (unless he was pulling our collective legs about that). You can guess the results of his search.
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Quantam: This is probably obvious, but for anyone who doesn’t know, Scott Bakula (Archer) starred for several years on the TV show “Quantam Leap” Because of this, and becasue people felt that Archer looked somewhat lost for the first couple of seasons, he is occasionally referred to, usually somewhat derisively, as “Quantam”
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Hoshi, Hoshi, Hoshi: Although T’Pol is the obvious T&A on the show, many if not most posters in these threads have expressed a preference for Hoshi as their hottie of choice with Tars Tarkas as probably the one who has most often mentioned his undying lust for her. “Topless Hoshi”, “Naked Hoshi” or just “Hoshi, Hoshi, Hoshi” are throwaway lines that refer to that, as well as refering to the episode where she lost her top in an improbable manner.
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Fake spoilers: Last season, in response to the bad episodes at the begining of the season, many posters started making up fake plot points simply because the real plots were so bad. It amused us. The incidence of this declined sharply as the episodes themselves became worth discussing.
That’s probably enough for now. Please add to the list, or correct as necessary.
