Straight Dope Message Board

[Annie-Xmas]

I have posted about working for a year on an annotated versions of Ira Levin's "Rosemary's Baby," only to look at the cover six months later and realize:

Rosemary's Baby.
Rose-mary's Baby
Mary's Baby

Yesterday I was walking down the street singing "Yellow Submarine"

Sky of blue and sea of green
In our yellow submarine

when it hit me:

Blue-green-yellow
To make blue green, yellow is added.

Give me some more examples of obvious things you didn't notice till much later. 1

[RealityChuck]

Originally Posted by Annie-Xmas

Rosemary's Baby.
Rose-mary's Baby
Mary's Baby

Didn't they specifically mention that in the book? I remember it in the movie. 2

[bri1600bv]

Originally Posted by RealityChuck

Didn't they specifically mention that in the book? I remember it in the movie.

Rosemary's baby?

I still don't get what you're saying.

There was someone named Rose and it was really mary's baby? 3

[Chronos]

The Battle of Wits in Princess Bride: Vizzini isn't trying to reason logically about where the poison is. He's gauging the Man in Black's reaction whenever he says it's in one or the other. Whenever he says the poison is in front of the Man in Black, he tenses up, and whenever he says that it's in front of himself, he relaxes. From there, he just had to figure out whether the Man in Black was bluffing or not, something that Vizzini is very good at. 4

[kirk1168]

Rosie by Jackson Browne, from Running On Empty.
I'd been listening to it for about 5 years before I realized that he was singing about masturbation. 5

[Nobody]

I mentioned this in another thread before, but I don't know how many years I heard the song Life in the Fast Lane before I realized that "there were lines on the mirror" was referring to cocaine. 6

[tdn]

Originally Posted by Nobody

I mentioned this in another thread before, but I don't know how many years I heard the song Life in the Fast Lane before I realized that "there were lines on the mirror" was referring to cocaine.

Maybe, maybe not.

When I was in college I took a class called Analysis of Song Lyrics. We pulled this one apart. We came up with three (maybe more) explanations for that line:

-Lines of cocaine on a mirror
-Cracks in a rearview mirror after a car crash
-Facial wrinkles

Our conclusion was that it was all three and so packed with meaning. We may have been reading too much into it, though. 7

[Nobody]

Originally Posted by tdn

Maybe, maybe not.

When I was in college I took a class called Analysis of Song Lyrics. We pulled this one apart. We came up with three (maybe more) explanations for that line:

-Lines of cocaine on a mirror
-Cracks in a rearview mirror after a car crash
-Facial wrinkles

Our conclusion was that it was all three and so packed with meaning. We may have been reading too much into it, though.

Well, after mentioning lines on the mirror it goes "There were lines on her face" which I assume would be the wrinkles. And if you remember, how did you guys come up with cracks from a car crash? 8

[Baby Driver]

Originally Posted by Nobody

I mentioned this in another thread before, but I don't know how many years I heard the song Life in the Fast Lane before I realized that "there were lines on the mirror" was referring to cocaine.

There were a couple.

Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody":

"Mama, just killed a man
Put a gun against his head
Pulled my trigger now he's dead"

For a long while I didn't get that there was a comma after mama. I always visualized the singer's mama being some hard-knock woman busting into a trailer with a revolver.


Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer":
"But I got no offers
Just a come on from the whores on 7th avenue
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there"

I was about eleven when I first heard the song and I thought "whores" was "horse". I pictured this young man sleeping in the stables among the horses 9

[Nobody]

Originally Posted by Baby Driver

Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer":
"But I got no offers
Just a come on from the whores on 7th avenue
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there"

I was about eleven when I first heard the song and I thought "whores" was "horse". I pictured this young man sleeping in the stables among the horses

Wow, my hearing must be screwed up.
I could never make out the lyrics between "But I got no offers," and "on 7th avenue," and actually, I thought they were saying something about 5th avenue.

So now that part make sense. Thanks. 10

[Siam Sam]

Originally Posted by Baby Driver

Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer":
"But I got no offers
Just a come on from the whores on 7th avenue
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there"

I was about eleven when I first heard the song and I thought "whores" was "horse". I pictured this young man sleeping in the stables among the horses

What, you mean like this guy? 11

[Alan Bird]

Originally Posted by kirk1168

Rosie by Jackson Browne, from Running On Empty.
I'd been listening to it for about 5 years before I realized that he was singing about masturbation.

Holy crap! I never knew that and I've been listening to that song for years.

As to the OP, I got nothing right now. 12

[Robot Arm]

I have seen the Dead Parrot Sketch more than a few times. At some point I noticed that when John Cleese is yelling at Polly to wake up, he opens the door of the cage! I mean, a birdcage isn't exactly soundproof with the door closed, is it? But he hold it right up to his mouth and opens the door, all the better to rouse him from dreams of the fjords. There's something about that action that fits perfectly with the over-exacting nature of the character.

I tend to think that the Pythons greatest gifts were in their writing, but that's one case where the detail of the performance really sells it. 13

[ajdebosco]

Originally Posted by Robot Arm

I have seen the Dead Parrot Sketch more than a few times. At some point I noticed that when John Cleese is yelling at Polly to wake up, he opens the door of the cage! I mean, a birdcage isn't exactly soundproof with the door closed, is it? But he hold it right up to his mouth and opens the door, all the better to rouse him from dreams of the fjords. There's something about that action that fits perfectly with the over-exacting nature of the character.

I tend to think that the Pythons greatest gifts were in their writing, but that's one case where the detail of the performance really sells it.

That is dead solid perfect, R A. I recently saw the interview of John Cleese on Inside the Actor's Studio where the discussion rolled around to the question of just what is funny. He maintained that it is comical to see someone going increasingly berserk, but what is really humorous is the reactions of the other characters observing the meltdown.

I had to re-review the dead parrot sketch after reading your post, and my cold beverage came out my nose until I was forced to set it down before wasting more of it. My sides still ache from seeing him try to explain "...was no more....he has ceased to be... he has expired... gone to meet his maker...he's an EX-PARROT!" 14

[The Man In Black]

Originally Posted by Chronos

The Battle of Wits in Princess Bride: Vizzini isn't trying to reason logically about where the poison is. He's gauging the Man in Black's reaction whenever he says it's in one or the other. Whenever he says the poison is in front of the Man in Black, he tenses up, and whenever he says that it's in front of himself, he relaxes. From there, he just had to figure out whether the Man in Black was bluffing or not, something that Vizzini is very good at.

You called? 15

[Don Draper]

In 2000, there was an intriguing movie called Shadow of the Vampire. It's a meta-fiction film that posits the idea the F.W. Murnau, director of the legendary silent horror film Nosferatu used a real "live" vampire to act as the vampire in the film.

I don't know if spoiler tags are necessary for a ten year old film, but just in case....

SPOILER:

The 2000 film's climax occurs as Murnau is filming the final scene for the movie. A key plot point is that the actress playing the heroine in "Nosferatu" doesn't know that she's doing a scene with a real vampire, and certainly doesn't know that Murnau has promised the vampire that he can actually drink her blood. She catches on though when she happens to glance into the mirror and see that the 'actor' playing the vampire has no reflection.

Anyway, I happen to buy a DVD copy of "Nosferatu" several days ago, and watched it for the first time in years. I noticed that the set for that final scene, which "Shadow" duplicated precisely, also has a mirror in the very same corner. BUT, in the original film the vampire does have a reflection! Given the amount of research that obviously was done on the original film, I can't imagine that this is a goof. Rather, I think it was a deliberate 'inaccuracy' meant as a wink*wink*nudge*nudge* to all the folks who actually bothered to watch the original film.

(On a small side note, had I known I could have watched the whole film on youtube, I wouldn't even have bothered with the $6.00 DVD.) 16

[Mister Rik]

Originally Posted by Shot From Guns

Yup, that's it, then. I don't think I've heard the word "comforter" outside of the U.S., and it might not even be used as much outside of the midwest. A comforter is a thick blanket stuffed with some sort of insulator.

I've lived my whole life in the PNW, and though I'm familiar with the word "comforter", most people I know around here just call it a "quilt". 17

[CalMeacham]

Anyway, I happen to buy a DVD copy of "Nosferatu" several days ago, and watched it for the first time in years. I noticed that the set for that final scene, which "Shadow" duplicated precisely, also has a mirror in the very same corner. BUT, in the original film the vampire does have a reflection! Given the amount of research that obviously was done on the original film, I can't imagine that this is a goof. Rather, I think it was a deliberate 'inaccuracy' meant as a wink*wink*nudge*nudge* to all the folks who actually bothered to watch the original film.

I can easily see it as a goof -- "Dracula" was, at the time, the only fictional work stating that vampires don't have reflections (Stoker seems to have inventing the "ancient tradition"). It's be easy to miss.

To show how easy -- here's something I missed every time I saw the film until a couple of years ago. In Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein Bela Lugosi's Dracula very definitely casts a reflection in the mirror when he bites his assistant. And not only was Bela Lugosi the chief player in countless performances of the play (where his not being visible in the mirror is a key plot point), but he'd done it in the 1931 movie, made at the very same studio.



And nobody caught this?


I suppose it's possible that this is a nudge-nudge joke here, too, but that seems wayyyyyy too nuanced for an Abbott and Costello movie. 18

[Leiko]

Originally Posted by Mister Rik

I've lived my whole life in the PNW, and though I'm familiar with the word "comforter", most people I know around here just call it a "quilt".

Huh. I've lived in the PNW all my life as well, and everyone I know calls the blanket in question a duvet or a comforter. Duvet is more common if the blanket is kept in a covering and sometimes is used to describe the covering rather than the blanket itself. Around here, "quilt" is only used for actual quilts. I'm in the Olympia-Lacey area, if that makes any difference. 19

[The Piranha Brothers]

Originally Posted by The New and Improved Superman

In 2000, there was an intriguing movie called Shadow of the Vampire. It's a meta-fiction film that posits the idea the F.W. Murnau, director of the legendary silent horror film Nosferatu used a real "live" vampire to act as the vampire in the film.

I don't know if spoiler tags are necessary for a ten year old film, but just in case....

SPOILER:

The 2000 film's climax occurs as Murnau is filming the final scene for the movie. A key plot point is that the actress playing the heroine in "Nosferatu" doesn't know that she's doing a scene with a real vampire, and certainly doesn't know that Murnau has promised the vampire that he can actually drink her blood. She catches on though when she happens to glance into the mirror and see that the 'actor' playing the vampire has no reflection.

Anyway, I happen to buy a DVD copy of "Nosferatu" several days ago, and watched it for the first time in years. I noticed that the set for that final scene, which "Shadow" duplicated precisely, also has a mirror in the very same corner. BUT, in the original film the vampire does have a reflection! Given the amount of research that obviously was done on the original film, I can't imagine that this is a goof. Rather, I think it was a deliberate 'inaccuracy' meant as a wink*wink*nudge*nudge* to all the folks who actually bothered to watch the original film.

(On a small side note, had I known I could have watched the whole film on youtube, I wouldn't even have bothered with the $6.00 DVD.)

The non-reflection in Shadow of the Vampire is obviously done deliberately, knowing that there was a reflection in the original.

But the reflection in the original movie?
You do realise I hope that Nosferatu was made in 1922? They didn't even have sound or colour film, let alone special effects.
Of course they could have taken the mirror off the wall. But I doubt if much research went into it; it was just an illegal adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel.

And anyway, in the movie "Bram Stoker's Dracula" Dracula can walk in broad daylight! It doesn't hurt him, although it reduces him to a low powered vampire. (Start Eddie Izzard sketch...) 20

[KneadToKnow]

Originally Posted by The Piranha Brothers

But the reflection in the original movie?
You do realise I hope that Nosferatu was made in 1922? They didn't even have sound or colour film, let alone special effects.

Making a mirror not reflect what the audience expects it to reflect doesn't take much in the way of special effects, and was totally within the capabilities of 1922 filmmakers. 21

[JSexton]

It just suddenly clicked for me that the Xanth series by legendary hack Piers Anthony is self-titled. PiersAnthony. PierXanthony. Xanth.

God, what a egomaniac. 22

[Kamino Neko]

Originally Posted by The Piranha Brothers

They didn't even have sound or colour film, let alone special effects.

Of course they had special effects - hell, Nosferatu added to the standard vampire mythos with special effects - a fade was used to make Orlok disintegrate in the sun. A point that doesn't exist in Stoker's novel.

Interiors were filmed in a studio, not in real buildings, so it's not like they couldn't use camera angles, a hole in the wall, a photograph, or any number of other tricks to make the mirror not reflect Shreck, if they felt it was important - look outside the window, it's clear they weren't too concerned with making things look realistic. (Or, of course, they could have just not put one where it would reflect him.)

Now, to make the two versions of the scene mesh, one could assume that Murnau, after killing the real Orlok, went back and refilmed the scene with an actor, making sure to get him in a mirror to hide the fact that he originally filmed it with a real no-reflection vampire. 23

[Lamia]

Originally Posted by The Piranha Brothers

And anyway, in the movie "Bram Stoker's Dracula" Dracula can walk in broad daylight! It doesn't hurt him, although it reduces him to a low powered vampire.

That's not just in the movie Bram Stoker's Dracula, it's in Bram Stoker's Dracula as well. Count Dracula can go out during the day if he wants to, but he apparently doesn't like it and his powers are more limited than they are at night. He does it when he has to, though. In Chapter 24 Dracula is described as visiting the docks at about 5 pm (more than an hour before sunset) wearing "a hat of straw which suit not him or the time" to arrange for passage out of England. 24

[The Second Stone]

30 Rock is a remake of The Mary Tyler Moore show. It took me two years. 25

[MonkeyMensch]

Originally Posted by The Second Stone

... It took me two years.

Hell, I got that beat! I'm old enough to have seen Have Gun, Will Travel on original broadcasts (barely.) I never knew what the heck the title meant until a couple of weeks ago when a skoshi bit of insomnia had me watching Encore Western at 4 a.m. It's a cookbook! No, no. It's a work sought classified ad! I swear I was so tickled that I finally figured that out.

I used to think that it meant, "If I have a gun, I'll travel; otherwise not." Now I see it's more like, "Have window-washing squeegees, will travel to find work."

Sheesh. A mere 45 years later... 26

[Labdad]

I listened to, played, and sang "All Along the Watchtower" a bazillion times before I realized the two approaching riders were, in fact, the Joker and the Thief. I thought they were inside the compound with the watchtower where princes kept the view, and it was that place thatthey had to get out of!

Originally Posted by MonkeyMensch

Hell, I got that beat! I'm old enough to have seen Have Gun, Will Travel on original broadcasts (barely.) I never knew what the heck the title meant until a couple of weeks ago when a skoshi bit of insomnia had me watching Encore Western at 4 a.m. It's a cookbook! No, no. It's a work sought classified ad! I swear I was so tickled that I finally figured that out.

I used to think that it meant, "If I have a gun, I'll travel; otherwise not." Now I see it's more like, "Have window-washing squeegees, will travel to find work."

Sheesh. A mere 45 years later...

Oh, I thought that, too! And I can certainly remember the original broadcasts. Hell, I thought Paladin's first name was "Wire!" (You know - "Wire Paladin - San Francisco")

A couple of decades later, I was looking something up in the dictionary and saw the word "Paladin" near the word I was looking for. I discovered a Paladin was a knight errant under the reign of Charlemagne, who went around righting wrongs.

Shazam! OK - NOW the horsey figure (the knight chess piece) made sense! "Palidan" wasn't the guy's real name - it was just his working name! "A knight without armor in a savage land" - duh! Oh, and his card meant I have a gun and I will travel. Just send me a telegram.

It only took me 20 years to discover this, though! 27

[Not A Tame Lion]

I've been hearing "Gimme Some Lovin'" for decades now, but it was only a few months ago, hearing it on the radio, when I realized that Steve Winwood was trying to sing like Ray Charles. Should have been obvious, never was. 28

[HMS Irruncible]

Originally Posted by Not A Tame Lion

I've been hearing "Gimme Some Lovin'" for decades now, but it was only a few months ago, hearing it on the radio, when I realized that Steve Winwood was trying to sing like Ray Charles. Should have been obvious, never was.

When you get right down to it, who isn't trying to sing like Ray Charles? 29

[Biffy the Elephant Shrew]

Originally Posted by Labdad

I listened to, played, and sang "All Along the Watchtower" a bazillion times before I realized the two approaching riders were, in fact, the Joker and the Thief. I thought they were inside the compound with the watchtower where princes kept the view, and it was that place thatthey had to get out of!

One theory is that Dylan intentionally set the verses out of order, and the last verse is actually the first. Thus the story begins with the title phrase, and the two riders are seen before they are identified by name. 30

[Staver808]

Originally Posted by Biffy the Elephant Shrew

One theory is that Dylan intentionally set the verses out of order, and the last verse is actually the first. Thus the story begins with the title phrase, and the two riders are seen before they are identified by name.

Seconding Nobody, but I've never heard this either. And if it is backwards and they're on the horses in the ending, who is having the conversation at the beginning? And if it is the Joker and the Thief, what does it mean?

Originally Posted by Robot Arm

Young Frankenstein: In Inspector Kemp's first scene at the town meeting, he breathes on his monocle, polishes it on his jacket, and then puts it on the eye that has an eyepatch on it.

And I think there a later scene where the torch-bearing mob is out looking for the monster and he puts a finger to his mouth to shoosh them that it's his left arm that's wooden. (All the other times it's his right.) I'll have to see it again to confirm that. The eyepatch probably changes sides, too.

Yeah, his arm changes visibly throughout the scenes as well as the eye patch. IIRC there's even a scene where Gene Wilder is looking at the Inspector's arm and seems to be on the verge of asking him about it when he lets it go. There are several Mel Brooke's movies like this (generally all of them) where if you watch them long enough you'll catch some small little thing that you missed before. 31

[Nobody]

Originally Posted by Labdad

I listened to, played, and sang "All Along the Watchtower" a bazillion times before I realized the two approaching riders were, in fact, the Joker and the Thief. I thought they were inside the compound with the watchtower where princes kept the view, and it was that place thatthey had to get out of!

That's what I always thought. So if it's them on the horses, what does their discussion at the beginning mean then? 32

[Tim R. Mortiss]

It took me years to realize that "Brown Eyed Girl" was actually about anal sex. 33

[Voyager]

Originally Posted by Labdad

Oh, I thought that, too! And I can certainly remember the original broadcasts. Hell, I thought Paladin's first name was "Wire!" (You know - "Wire Paladin - San Francisco")

A couple of decades later, I was looking something up in the dictionary and saw the word "Paladin" near the word I was looking for. I discovered a Paladin was a knight errant under the reign of Charlemagne, who went around righting wrongs.

Shazam! OK - NOW the horsey figure (the knight chess piece) made sense! "Palidan" wasn't the guy's real name - it was just his working name! "A knight without armor in a savage land" - duh! Oh, and his card meant I have a gun and I will travel. Just send me a telegram.

It only took me 20 years to discover this, though!

I got the Have Gun part when I saw them originally (right before Gunsmoke on Saturday nights) but I too thought Wire was his first name.

I'm watching them on DVD now, and they are awesome. One of the shows from the first season has the origin of the dance in the Star Trek pilot - in a show written by Roddenberry. In the very first show, he is introduced saying farewell to a woman, with a look that shows that Paladin doesn't love only his horse. But I think Paladin is his name, and he got it from the writers assigning a name to match the character.

For my screwup, it took me years of listening to Dylan's Motorpsycho Nighmare to realize it was a takeoff on Psycho - despite very obvious hints such as the title a mention of Tony Perkins and the girl's wish for him to take a shower. 34

[terentii]

Originally Posted by MonkeyMensch

I'm old enough to have seen Have Gun, Will Travel on original broadcasts (barely.) I never knew what the heck the title meant until a couple of weeks ago when a skoshi bit of insomnia had me watching Encore Western at 4 a.m.

I was born in 1955, but it wasn't until I was in, oh, maybe my late 30s when it finally dawned on me why Paladin had that chess piece (a freakin' KNIGHT) on his holster! DUH! 35

[terentii]

... And about ten years earlier, I had suddenly realized why there were all those rooms at the top of the stairs in the Longbranch Saloon on Gunsmoke. 36

[aruvqan]

Originally Posted by terentii

... And about ten years earlier, I had suddenly realized why there were all those rooms at the top of the stairs in the Longbranch Saloon on Gunsmoke.

Ah, that moment when fond childhood memories are .... *sullied*
37

[Rick Kitchen]

Originally Posted by terentii

I was born in 1955, but it wasn't until I was in, oh, maybe my late 30s when it finally dawned on me why Paladin had that chess piece (a freakin' KNIGHT) on his holster! DUH!

I always thought Paladin's first name was Wire. 38

[Flip Pancake]

Originally Posted by The Second Stone

30 Rock is a remake of The Mary Tyler Moore show. It took me two years.

Or maybe The Muppet Show. 39

[BACI]

For some reason it took years of casual listening before I heard Mick Jagger doing backing vocals on Carly Simon's "You're So Vain". Just never knew it was there before... 40

[commasense]

I wrote this in a version of this thread two years ago:

Near the end of the Huston/Bogart version of The Maltese Falcon, Gutman is explaining to Spade why Thursby was shot. As he says that Thursby "was quite determinedly loyal to Miss O’Shaughnessy," a look of realization crosses Bogart's face, and he looks at Mary Astor, whose eyes drop guiltily. It was only a couple of years ago, on watching the film for perhaps the 10,000th time, that I caught on to the fact that Spade has only just realized that Brigid had won Thursby's loyalty by sleeping with him.

Very significant in light of how Spade will deal with Brigid just a few minutes later. 41

[commasense]

(And Robot Arm posted the same point about the Parrot Sketch!)

Recycling is good! 42

[Don Draper]

Originally Posted by Annie-Xmas

Rosemary's Baby.
Rose-mary's Baby
Mary's Baby

Along similar lines, it dawned on me many years after the fact that the main character in E.T: the Extra-Terrestrial is named ElioT.

Also in the Terminator movies, the man who is destined to save mankind from doom (whose father is a mystery to everyone) is John Conner, whose initials would be J.C. - kind of like another well-known savior with an ambiguous paternity... 43

[Yodalicious]

Not something creative but... I have a habit of trying to figure out what the different letters on the back of cars mean. Only recently did I realize what the A in Audi A4, A6, and A8 stands for. Duh! 44

[Hippy Hollow]

Originally Posted by Daddypants

Not something creative but... I have a habit of trying to figure out what the different letters on the back of cars mean. Only recently did I realize what the A in Audi A4, A6, and A8 stands for. Duh!

You got me here. Is it "Audi?"

Okay, here's one: my parents have a slew of 45 singles from back in the day. I remember some were James Brown, and occasionally a 45 would have "Part I" of a song on it.

I was listening to a BBC documentary about the history of recorded music, where the commentator remarked that most songs are in the 3-4 minute range because that's as much that would fit on a 45...

And then I was listening to the Jackson 5's "I Am Love Pt 1 & 2" and realized the song was 7 plus minutes long - too long to fit on one side of a 45, hence why there was two parts to it.

I've been puzzling over this for most of my life and just figured it out... I'm 37. 45

[E-Sabbath]

Actually, there _is_ a connotation in 'Brown Eyed'. Brown Eyed Girl, Brown Eyed Handsome Man?

They're black. 46

[njtt]

Originally Posted by E-Sabbath

Actually, there _is_ a connotation in 'Brown Eyed'. Brown Eyed Girl, Brown Eyed Handsome Man?

They're black.

That might be a connotation in the American south, but hardly in '50s or '60s Belfast. 47

[notquitekarpov]

Originally Posted by Hippy Hollow

You got me here. Is it "Audi?"

Well not strictly speaking, since AUDI is just an acronym for Auto Union Deutsche Industrie.

So your AUDI is an indirect descendent of those silver Auto Union racing cars so beloved of Hitler in the 1930's... 48

[E-DUB]

What a thread. Mine is from Star Trek as well. The episode "Doomsday Machine". Saw the show many, many times during the syndication run and a few since. I'd also seen "The Caine Mutiny" any number of times as well. But I never made the connection between the ball-bearing thing that Queeg did with the fiddling with the "floppy disks" that Decker did until fairly recently. 49

[Robot Arm]

Originally Posted by notquitekarpov

Well not strictly speaking, since AUDI is just an acronym for Auto Union Deutsche Industrie.

So your AUDI is an indirect descendent of those silver Auto Union racing cars so beloved of Hitler in the 1930's...

Although Auto Union is definitely involved, I can't find much support online for the "Auto Union Decusche Industrie" acronym. According to Wikipedia the name was in use well before Auto Union was formed in 1932. In fact, the four companies which joined forces to form Auto Union (and led to its four-ring logo) were Zschopauer Motorenwerke J. S. Rasmussen (which sold cars under the brand "DKW"), Wanderer, Horch, and Audi.

Wikipedia also goes on the say that the Audi name faded from use for some time, but came back rather surreptitiously when Auto Union tried to preserve some of their independence and history after being bought by Volkswagen. 50