# A Meme to banish forever... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135 "2009-06-08T19:54:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/81 "2009-06-10T17:49:32Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > IOW, while all cows are black birds any dictionary that defined a crow solely as a black bird would be misleading. So _THAT_’s why my cows kept getting over the fence!!! > [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Plus, they never mention it again. If somebody decked you, it would be the topic of conversation for days! If they showed signs of the injuries, they’d have to talk about them. If somebody around here shows up with his arm in a sling, two black eyes, a broken nose, 45 stitches, and bruises all over his body, everybody wants to know the story. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/82 "2009-06-10T22:47:15Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Yes. And when the ship sinks, machine gun the survivors and let anyone you miss drown.:rolleyes: > > The point of being the good guy is that you avoid killing unless absolutely necessary. Otherwise, you’re just a bad guy in a white hat. Didn’t Firefly deal with that idea. For a few seconds 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/83 "2009-06-10T23:16:16Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Vampires, zombies, werewolves, and the like might not be technically vulnerable to submachine gun fire, wood chippers, meat grinders, and a we;;-wielded ginsu knife, but it’ll probably still be effective. You’ll like [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYYNAR54Qe8&feature=related) clip from Robot chicken. > [@sohvan](#): > > This is more a documentary trope, but I get annoyed every time someone “finds” something extremely interesting while taking a walk in front of the camera. Are we expected to believe that the 250.000 year old intact human skull has been lying there in the dirt just waiting for a documentary team to walk by and pick it up? It takes me out of the documentary every time. > Reply With Quote You’d be surprised how much in documentaries are staged. For example, a lot of animal close ups are filmed at zoos. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/84 "2009-06-10T23:19:46Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Never thought about that but you’re right. It is, however, self-consistent, since movie people are obviously in an alternate universe where these sort of things happen all the time, it wouldn’t be that memorable… > > “What happened at your work today, honey?” > “Oh, you know, the usual, mostly. A murder, several pseudo-romantic stalkings, a couple fistfights. Ohh yeah I almost forgot, I did complete the Burns Report early so I can almost complete my monthly task list.” > “Wow! Tell me more about the Burns Report!” hehe ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/85 "2009-06-11T20:25:05Z")
**Tanbarkie** said: > [@](#): > > This particular trope made for my least favorite moment of “Serenity,” particularly since it’s exactly the kind of cliched climax that Joss Whedon has made a career of subverting. But Mal cheated. He was “missing a nerve cluster” that the Operative was relying on for the incapacitation, and was quick enough on the uptake to realize that was what the Operative was counting on, so he played it as if he were incapacitated to get the drop on the Operative. So it was a deception ploy, not an actual come back from complete defeat. By taking the Operative by surprise, he was able to get the upper hand and incapacitate the Operative instead. Yeah, Mal had [del]inhuman[/del] heroic endurance, but that’s not the same meme/trope/cliche/gimmick/plot device. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/86 "2009-06-12T00:00:21Z")
The one (you all decide what it is one of) I can’t stand is something I call the golf clap: hero of film finally makes poignant speech about some moral or character virtue and the crowd around him or her starts to slowly clap. The bad guy slinks away or they cut to the next scene where bad guy is safely in jail or girlfriendless or whatever and they all live happily ever after etc. I know no circumstance in life where people casually standing around start clapping because someone (finally) confronted their nemesis. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/87 "2009-06-12T01:46:01Z")
I loathe the word “trope”. Just to get that off my chest. Here’s one that bugs me, though: Person from the future finds scientist and presents him with an equation, usually while explaining, “This is the equation/formula/recipe for Super Marvelous Future Stuff that we need by this afternoon.” Scientist stares at it like it’s a revelation from God himself, and suddenly It’s All Clear! Sure enough, he’s able to get the stuff made by that afternoon. Science doesn’t work that way. An equation/formula/whatever is only meaningful in the right context. Bah. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/88 "2009-06-12T03:18:47Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Here’s one that bugs me, though: Person from the future finds scientist and presents him with an equation, usually while explaining, “This is the equation/formula/recipe for Super Marvelous Future Stuff that we need by this afternoon.” Scientist stares at it like it’s a revelation from God himself, and suddenly It’s All Clear! Sure enough, he’s able to get the stuff made by that afternoon. Science doesn’t work that way. An equation/formula/whatever is only meaningful in the right context. Bah. Not really true though. To pick an obvious example from the real world, I could show the formula for producing Nylon to any competent biochemist form 1900 and they could produce nylon for me by this afternoon. I could show it and the reactions for producing the reagents to a chemist from 1800 and probably get it in a week. And nylon was an impressive breakthrough in the late 20th century, 200 years ago it would have truly been magic future stuff. Similarly I’ve shown kids how to extract relatively pure DNA using the contents of an average kitchen in one afternoon. There is absolutely no reason why I couldn’t teach an alchemist from 1600 how to do it in the same time. The same would go for gunpowder or iron smelting or any number of technological breakthroughs. In many instances “formulas” for major breakthroughs are perfectly comprehensible to any person skilled in that field. They are actually quite simple instructions. In most cases the difficult part was working out which of the billions of possible options had t be reacted in what proportions and what to do with the stuff once you’ve got it. Once that was worked out anybody with basic facilities could repeat the procedure. So I have no problem with the idea that “transparent aluminium” Star Trekky stuff could often be produced by a competent scientist in one afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/89 "2009-06-12T03:38:58Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > And nylon was an impressive breakthrough in the late 20th century, 200 years ago it would have truly been magic future stuff. Burn the witch! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/90 "2009-06-12T07:32:18Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Vampires, zombies, werewolves, and the like might not be technically vulnerable to submachine gun fire, wood chippers, meat grinders, and a we;;-wielded ginsu knife, but it’ll probably still be effective. That depends on the variety. Zombies are especially prone to be treated as tougher than they should be. At least some werewolves are capable of withstanding serious firepower. And some vampires are effectively invulnerable to anything but sunlight or holy/wooden/silver/whatever weapons. Saberhagen vampires aren’t even marked by bullets, they just pass on through, for example. For an extreme example, I recall a sci-fi story where aliens killed all life on Earth, and were shocked to find a few human survivors and took them on board for investigation. That proved to be a mistake . . . \*“Nothing human could have survived what you did to the Earth. Nothing human \ ***did**.” ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/91 "2009-06-12T16:54:43Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > At least some werewolves are capable of withstanding serious firepower. The Dresden File story _Fool Moon_ did a good job of explaining this. There are werewolves and there are werewolves; the worst of the lot is the loup-garou, essentially a magical wolf-monster or wolf-demon, with utterly supernatural invulnerability. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/92 "2009-06-12T17:50:42Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > The Dresden File story _Fool Moon_ did a good job of explaining this. There are werewolves and there are werewolves; the worst of the lot is the loup-garou, essentially a magical wolf-monster or wolf-demon, with utterly supernatural invulnerability. Yes, I have most of the series. 🙂 I was also thinking of the werewolf in _Hawk & Fisher_, who stood up to a succubus who was nasty enough to tear apart a small army of human thugs. She could rip right through him, but it was like trying to tear apart a liquid metal style Terminator. He just healed instantly from everything. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/93 "2009-06-12T17:53:52Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I recall a sci-fi story where aliens killed all life on Earth, and were shocked to find a few human survivors and took them on board for investigation. That proved to be a mistake . . . > > \*“Nothing human could have survived what you did to the Earth. Nothing human \ ***did**.” Sounds interesting - is this a film or a novel? ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/94 "2009-06-12T17:55:19Z")
Isn’t that vampires in space or something? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/95 "2009-06-12T18:00:30Z")
> [@labtrash](#): > > Sounds interesting - is this a film or a novel? A short story whose title I don’t recall, it was in the vampire/scifi themed anthology _Tomorrow Sucks_ as I recall. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/96 "2009-06-12T22:08:59Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I recall a sci-fi story where aliens killed all life on Earth, and were shocked to find a few human survivors and took them on board for investigation. That proved to be a mistake . . . > > \*“Nothing human could have survived what you did to the Earth. Nothing human \ ***did**.” I can’t recall the title either. It’s an old story though. I’m pretty sure it also appears in Rod Serling’s Triple W (Werewolves, Warlocks, and Witches). ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Norder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/97 "2009-06-12T22:19:45Z")
That’s “And Not Quite Human” by Joe L. Hensley. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/98 "2009-06-12T22:27:47Z")
> [@Dan\_Norder](#): > > That’s “And Not Quite Human” by Joe L. Hensley. Ah, that’s it. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/99 "2009-06-12T22:55:26Z")
I always think these threads need to have a rule of providing atleast three cites where the trope or cliche is used. Sometimes people list scenarios that I am hard pressed to think of two examples of it… let alone enough to make it a “thing”. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/100 "2009-06-13T00:32:52Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > I always think these threads need to have a rule of providing atleast three cites where the trope or cliche is used. > > Sometimes people list scenarios that I am hard pressed to think of two examples of it… let alone enough to make it a “thing”. Well, the first occurance was in _The Prisoner_ (1967), the second occurance was in _The Courtship of Eddie’s Father_ (1972), and the third was in _The Paris Hilton Chronicles_ (2014). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135.md?page=6)