# A Stupid Thing in Star Trek That Has Annoyed Me For Years (Add Your Own!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 14, 2008, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414 "2008-07-14T09:53:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 22
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/421 "2008-10-01T17:19:02Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > I think he means “Poon Tang”. Does no one use that word any more? Yes, interstellar (far) Poontang is what my lame little joke was about - which stirred up far more responses than it was worth. I trust that this illustrious audience is familiar with Sturgeon’s many stories about sex - second only to Phil Farmer in that regard. However I’m pretty sure that he never said 90% of poon is crap. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/422 "2008-10-01T17:19:58Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > All you have to do is find out what the rock wants. What is it’s motivation? …Doesn’t want to be taken for granite? …No more Mr Gneiss Guy? …Lost its marbles? …To boulder go where no man has gone before? Okay, I got nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/423 "2008-10-01T17:26:53Z")
> [@True Blue Jack](#): > > The book was somewhat reminiscent of “The Making of Star Trek” by Stephen Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry. (Whitfield wrote the bulk of the book, not counting actual office memos and fairly long letters from scientific consultants. Roddenberry’s contribution was the insertion of usually fairly brief comments, ALWAYS IN CAPS, btw, which expanded on or explained what Whitfield had just covered.) This also had an episode index, very rudimentary, with only actor names and airing dates. It only included the first two seasons, unless a later edition was produced. > > Ah, nostalgia. Nowadays I take all kinds of indexes for granted, but these were the first two indexes of _anything_ of a serial nature that I had ever come across. I remember being somewhat fascinated with the concept. Bjo Trimble’s “Star Trek Concordance” with its brief plot encapsulations, star dates and planet/species names was still a bit in the future. (There would also soon be a Compendium, by yet a different author, which was the only one of the four to include _production_ dates along with the airing dates.) > > One of the most striking differences of the first two books was Gerrold’s writing style, compared with Whitfield’s straightforward and family-friendly prose. Both included a run-down on Klingons, but where Whitfield probably essentially quoted some edition of the Star Trek guide for writers, Gerrold wrote a free-form bit of fancy including “Klingons fart in airlocks…” But that was hardly surprising after reading his analysis of the fan phenomenon. While carefully distinguishing fannish behavior from ordinary interests and hobbies, he casually mentioned masturbation (!) as one of the latter. > > - “Jack” I’ve been too busy lately to look up the reference. I’ve got all the books you mentioned, as well as the version of the writer’s guide that they sold while the show was on the air. My version was pretty early, and Klingons aren’t mentioned. The Whitfield /Roddenberry book (or Goddenberry as someone called him due to those capital letter pronouncements) was written from inside, while Gerrold’s book was written from outside. You’d get the impression from the Tribbles book that Gerrold was just some fan who sat down and wrote a script - I’ve recently read something that shows he was far more connected to the script writing community than he let on. Gerrold’s books also came out afte the show was over, while Whitfield’s came out during production. I’m not aware of an earlier “Making of” book about a TV series. Now they’re standard. Anyone. I think Agel’s book on 2001 might be the first in that regard also. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/424 "2008-10-01T17:47:05Z")
I’m pretty sure that Gerrold’s comment about Kilingons came from his Tribbles book. I was cleaning last night and stumbled across my copy, but I didn;t looom for that line. You have to take it in context – Gerrold was describing Klingons and what they’re like. This was back in the original series days, well before the movies, and you couldn’t say that Klingons “were like Frat Boys with Bushido”, because they weren’t like that yet. He listed a bunch of characteristics, among which was that “Klingons fart in airlocks”. That wasn’t meant seriously, but to describe their attitude and behavior, and did so prett well, I thought. One reason I think it was in the Tribbles book was that it did go to the trouble of describing Klingons, who were an important element in that episode. I’ll check my copy tonight. I wouldn’t say that the book reads as if a fan just sat down and wrote the e[pisode – Gerrold makes it pretty clear that he was a screenwriting student, and that he wrote premises for other shows. Heck, he describes getting an Agent in the book. I think **Voyager** mischaracterizes his book. It’s true that Gerrold’s two books came out after Whitfield’s, but so what? Whitfield’s book is something interesting – it came out during the run of the original series, describing how it was put together. I can’t think of another example of that, either. Star Trek was also the first series that issued books that gave adaptations of individual episodes of the show. Aside friom the Alan Dean Foster books adapting the animated series, I can’t think of any other TV series that did that (novelizations of individual episodes, rather than books based on the TV series. Eventually, they issues 13 books covering all the episodes, all of them written by James Blish, except for the last (called “Mudd’s Angels”, adapting the two Harvey Mudd episodes plus some original material) by Blish’s wife, J.A. Lawrence) “The Making of Kubrick’s 2001” came out a couple of years after The Making of Star Trek. I know because my Freshman English teacher told me about the studemnt’s analysis of 2001 that was to be included in an upcoming book – and that was in 1969-70. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/425 "2008-10-01T17:55:19Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Does no one use that word any more? I believed it to be a racial slur for sex with a woman of color. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/426 "2008-10-01T17:56:52Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I believed it to be a racial slur for sex with a woman of color. In my mind, it’s a specific reference to Southeast Asian women’s … um … poon. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/427 "2008-10-01T19:25:14Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > In my mind, it’s a specific reference to Southeast Asian women’s … um … poon. I did a search on the urban dictionary: > [@](#): > > \*\*1. poontang \*\* > Function: noun > Inflected Forms: plural - poontang; abbreviated - poon > Alternate Spellings: puntang > Etymology: Filipino (Ilokano dialect) putang (whore, fuck) > 1: female genitalia > 2: sexual intercourse I didn’t know the etymology. Heh… ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/428 "2008-10-01T21:36:50Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Does no one use that word any more? Yes, interstellar (far) Poontang is what my lame little joke was about - which stirred up far more responses than it was worth. First time I ever heard it was in Ted Nugent’s song, “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang”. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/429 "2008-10-01T23:30:03Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang”. Is that anything like Coco Taylor’s “Wang Dang Doodle”? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/430 "2008-10-02T00:23:48Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Is that anything like Coco Taylor’s “Wang Dang Doodle”? 'fraid I haven’t heard that one. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/431 "2008-10-02T00:39:53Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > 'fraid I haven’t heard that one. IT would help if I spelled her name right. 🙂[Koko.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxCa16-nxtM) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/432 "2008-10-02T00:51:04Z")
I just dug out my copy of [B[The Trouble with Tribbles\*\* and speed-skimmed it. I can’t find the line about Klingons and air-locks in it, and I perused the relevant section closely. So it must be in **The World of Star Trek** , which _didn’t_ turn up when I was cleaning. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/433 "2008-10-02T01:52:05Z")
Maybe they’ve been mentioned in the thread, but it’s too long to read it all. 1. Missing. How does a “ray” going at the speed of light adn aimed by a computer miss a gigantic starship a non-relativistic speeds? 2. No seatbelts, heck, nothing to grab. 3. Hand Phasers never damage solid objects…unless they want it. 4. People dodging a ligth beam 5. Losing the abbility to fire over the horizon. 6. All the ships’ names are either “Defiant” or 20th-centurish. 7)Evrybody in the 24th century is in love with late 19th and 20th century U.S. (e.g. Holodeck games) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/434 "2008-10-02T01:59:47Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > 1. Hand Phasers never damage solid objects…unless they want it. Plese give an example. > [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > 1. Losing the abbility to fire over the horizon. In _Arena_ where the Gorn attack a colony, Kirk and Spock return fire with a mortar. It does fire some nuclear or fusion warhead, but it is indirect fire. Saves in the special effects, too.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/435 "2008-10-02T02:12:10Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Plese give an example.. If they are shooting some Romulans in their base, when the phaser misses it make no damage to the walls or doors. > [@](#): > > In _Arena_ where the Gorn attack a colony, Kirk and Spock return fire with a mortar. It does fire some nuclear or fusion warhead, but it is indirect fire. Saves in the special effects, too.🙂 OK, they used a 19th century weapon. But no 24th century one seems to pull the trick. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/436 "2008-10-02T02:37:29Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > If they are shooting some Romulans in their base, when the phaser misses it make no damage to the walls or doors. > > OK, they used a 19th century weapon. But no 24th century one seems to pull the trick. I’ll concede the damage thing although I can’t think of a particular example. A neutron mortar sounds pretty 24th century to me, pal. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/437 "2008-10-05T22:56:22Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > A neutron mortar sounds pretty 24th century to me, pal. 🙂 yeah…but unless it’s guided by some sort of quantum-gps-interdimensional system it is still the same weapon with a different head. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/438 "2008-10-05T23:03:48Z")
Actually, it looked like Kirk was dropping ping pong balls into a mailing tube, but there was this really cool phaser flash on the other side of the cliff… ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/439 "2008-10-06T00:01:29Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > If they are shooting some Romulans in their base, when the phaser misses it make no damage to the walls or doors. Don’t forget that the beam magically hits the target and envelopes it (unless its one ship firing on another) instead of punching a hole through it and exiting out the other side. The _only_ time you see it hit a human/alien and **not** surround them is if you’re firing the gizmo on “Stun.” ---
**Author:** ![Valteron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f17d59/32.png) [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/440 "2008-10-06T00:35:49Z")
Captain Kirk and his international crew use feet, miles per hour, inches etc. I used to think it meant that in the future the United States would not only continue its pigheaded refusal to go metric, but would finally get the rest of the human race to understand that there has to be 5280 feet in a mile, etc. But then, in TNO, they seem to use metric. A friend of mine said that the hidden message was that it would take another 300 years for the US to accept metric conversion!😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414.md?page=21) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414.md?page=23)