# Game: spot the obscure movie/book/etc.. references in doper's nicks **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2004, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544 "2004-12-01T19:00:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Nuveena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@Nuveena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nuveena)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/221 "2004-12-05T16:32:48Z")
> [@LifeOnWry](#): > > **Fretful Porpentine** is a reference to Hamlet. I’ve always read this as Fretful Porcupine. Who knew? Someone mentioned the source of my nickname in a Cafe Society thread a week ago. They didn’t mention the name, but I was still surprised to see it come up. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/222 "2004-12-05T16:34:04Z")
> [@Nuveena](#): > > I’ve always read this as Fretful Porcupine. Who knew? > > Someone mentioned the source of my nickname in a Cafe Society thread a week ago. They didn’t mention the name, but I was still surprised to see it come up. Oh, like MSTies can manage NOT to demonstrate geek cred… ---
**Author:** ![Liz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/liz/32/17737_2.png) [@Liz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liz)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/223 "2004-12-05T16:36:34Z")
Mine’s pretty easy, I think. If anyone wants the answer, I’m a reference to [this](http://www.lyricscrawler.com/song/152700.html). ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/224 "2004-12-05T16:50:44Z")
There’s a new poster on the board called **ReaperMort**. Another Terry Pratchett reference. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/225 "2004-12-05T21:35:00Z")
Really? Mine’s a tough one? Kind of a cultish b-movie, but still… ---
**Author:** ![Cherry2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cherry2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cherry2000)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/226 "2004-12-05T21:41:42Z")
Mine is also from the B-movie realm. Cherry 2000 was an old B sci-fi movie starring Melanie Griffith (of all people :rolleyes: ). Since I love sci-fi movies (and even B movies), and have red hair…it seemed like a natural choice 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/227 "2004-12-06T20:03:01Z")
**An Ass for a Hat** could be taken as a reference to Oliver Sachs’s book “The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.” ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/228 "2004-12-06T20:26:03Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Sigh. Forgotten again. Ah, well. I’ll just assume mine is so obvious no one felt the need to mention it. **Smeghead** - a now cult reference to the piece of slang Lister uses through most of the Red Dwarf series and will probably use even more in the upcoming movie 😃 Feel better? ---
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/229 "2004-12-06T20:53:38Z")
[quOTE=Sternvogel] Without Googling, I can say that **Splanky** is from _Mad About You_ – it was the early-childhood nickname of either Paul or his cousin Ira. [QUOTE] That may be true, but I actually got it from the Count Basie song written some 75+ years ago. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/230 "2004-12-06T21:55:13Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > **An Ass for a Hat** could be taken as a reference to Oliver Sachs’s book “The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.” I assumed this was from **City Slickers** , when Bruno Kirby tells Daniel Stern’s character that he wants to wear the Helen Slater character’s ass for a hat or something like that… still waiting for the movie reference for my username… ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/231 "2004-12-06T22:20:03Z")
[QUOTE=Splanky] [quOTE=Sternvogel] Without Googling, I can say that **Splanky** is from _Mad About You_ – it was the early-childhood nickname of either Paul or his cousin Ira. > [@](#): > > That may be true, but I actually got it from the Count Basie song written some 75+ years ago. And, actually, it’s not true. The nickname was “SplInky.” ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/232 "2004-12-06T22:22:20Z")
:smack: Proofread next time. It’s Splinky. With an _I_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/233 "2004-12-06T22:30:08Z")
> [@Kid\_A](#): > > **acrossthesea** – Weezer song, Across The Sea off Pinkerton. Perhaps, at the time she was active, she was living “across the sea” in Japan. \*\*Crunchy Frog \*\* is named for a Monty Python sketch. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/234 "2004-12-06T22:54:00Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > You don’t happen to be happily deceased, would you? Nah, **AugestWest** ain’t dead. But he knows that the life he’s livin’s no good. He’ll get a new start, live the life he should. ---
**Author:** ![mkl12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@mkl12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkl12)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/235 "2004-12-06T23:23:01Z")
It seem sthat noone has posted this one yet. **Rilchiam** is from Carroll’s _The Hunting of the Snark_. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/236 "2004-12-06T23:49:52Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > **An Ass for a Hat** could be taken as a reference to Oliver Sachs’s book “The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.” I just thought it was a reference to asshats. ---
**Author:** ![Primaflora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Primaflora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Primaflora)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/237 "2004-12-07T00:27:54Z")
Anyone know what mine refers to? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/238 "2004-12-07T05:38:13Z")
> [@faldureon](#): > > **Smeghead** - a now cult reference to the piece of slang Lister uses through most of the Red Dwarf series and will probably use even more in the upcoming movie 😃 > > Feel better? No. ☹ I had to mention myself. _SOB_ ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/239 "2004-12-07T06:08:50Z")
I just saw a **Club 33** posting in another thread. That’s the name of the private club in New Orleans Square at Disneyland. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544/240 "2004-12-07T06:14:07Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > still waiting for the movie reference for my username… That is the nickname that Eddie Wilson gave to Tom Berenger’s character in _Eddie and the Cruisers_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-spot-the-obscure-movie-book-etc-references-in-dopers-nicks/277544.md?page=13)