# Can anyone explain Saturn from "Beetlejuice?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314 "2012-01-31T16:26:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [February 1, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/21 "2012-02-01T17:49:50Z")
I simply presumed that the desert and the sandworms were enforcing whatever spiritual rule required the Maitlands to not leave the house for 100 years. ---
**Author:** ![DonLogan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/22 "2012-02-01T21:15:01Z")
“Beetlejuice” is astronomer slang for Betelgeuse. Pre-Hitchhiker’s guide, it goes way back. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/23 "2012-02-01T22:45:52Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > So, having established that the sand worm place actually is Saturn (or Titan, at least, according to the script), _can_ anyone explain it? I’m usually good for an off-the-cuff fanwank,\* but I admit this one has me stumped. What do the moons of Saturn have to do with the afterlife? > > [sub]\*Heh.[/sub] Well, Saturn the Greco Roman god has come to be associated with the passage of time, as well as death in some representations : he was a harvest god, carried a scythe. Then Jupiter sent him to the realm of the damned, Tartarus, where he became the ruler. That’s close enough to the Grim Reaper, yeah ? So there’s that link at least. He also cut his father’s tonker off, there’s your giant worm connection ! ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/24 "2012-02-01T23:20:08Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > ‘FWIF’? That got me, too. [Acronym Finder](http://www.acronymfinder.com/FWIF.html) says it’s internet slang for “for what it’s worth,” but that would be FWIW. Either it means “for what it’s forth,” or else it’s a typo that caught on for who knows what reason (FWKWR). ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/25 "2012-02-03T00:42:50Z")
What exactly was Beetlejuice in his past life? Some sort of demented clown? ---
**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:** [December 10, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/27 "2018-12-10T23:22:33Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > What exactly was Beetlejuice in his past life? Some sort of demented clown? I seem to recall their saying that Beetlejuice was alive during the Black Death, and since he was once an official in the afterlife bureaucracy he presumably died by suicide, but they don’t really get into it. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2018, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/28 "2018-12-10T23:28:10Z")
> [@Gen666](#): > > \ CheeseDonkey has not posted or been active in four years. I doubt he’ll see your post. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/29 "2018-12-11T01:53:00Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > CheeseDonkey has not posted or been active in four years. I doubt he’ll see your post. CheeseDonkey… ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/30 "2018-12-11T02:16:33Z")
CheeseDonkey :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/31 "2018-12-11T05:40:26Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > CheeseDonkey > :eek: Check out all his OPs–dude was all over the place! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/32 "2018-12-11T05:50:24Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Check out all his OPs–dude was all over the place! I always figured that the guy regularly posted while under the effects of recreational herbs. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/33 "2018-12-11T12:16:14Z")
I thought we were summoning him… ---
**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:** [December 11, 2018, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/34 "2018-12-11T14:26:20Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > Betelgeuse is also the star the planet orbits that they actually go to in Planet of the Apes (original novel). Not Earth of the Future. Considering that Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star with variable output, that must make life there uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/35 "2018-12-11T19:07:46Z")
I know I was pronouncing it “Beetlejuice” years before the movie came out. I don’t know if it’s because of the movie but I realized it ought to be pronounced “Bet-el-juice”. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/36 "2018-12-11T20:05:09Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I know I was pronouncing it “Beetlejuice” years before the movie came out. I don’t know if it’s because of the movie but I realized it ought to be pronounced “Bet-el-juice”. Not exactly like “juice”; change the “c” to a “z” or “za” (jooza?) ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/37 "2018-12-11T21:38:13Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > I thought we were summoning him… twas worth a shot… ---
**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:** [December 11, 2018, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/38 "2018-12-11T23:01:29Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > I thought we were summoning him… He’s probably still in the waiting room. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/39 "2018-12-12T19:29:42Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Not exactly like “juice”; change the “c” to a “z” or “za” (jooza?) Maybe Bet-el-gooz with a hard z? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/40 "2018-12-12T23:01:44Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Maybe Bet-el-gooz with a hard z? What is a hard z? The (English) dictionary pronunciation is ˈbɛtəldʒuːz or ˈbɛtɛlʒœz, or ˈbiː- Even among Arabic dialects, pronunciation of the “jeem” may vary, but as far as I know a “z” is (in the case of Arabic) a “z”. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314/41 "2018-12-13T13:39:06Z")
“The traditional name Betelgeuse is derived from the Arabic إبط الجوزاء Ibṭ al-Jauzā’, meaning “the underarm of Orion”” AKA, Armpit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-saturn-from-beetlejuice/611314.md?page=3)