# Instances of life intentionally imitating art **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2023, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116 "2023-04-24T15:31:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/61 "2023-04-25T17:18:44Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > we had a pizza party and watched Full Metal Jacket. It was the first time I’d seen it, and so then I found out where the _rest_ of the things the drill sergeants said came from. R. Lee Ermey had been an actual US Marine drill instructor. He was originally hired as a consultant, but was so good they put him in the movie. Another example of life imitating art imitating life 😏 ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/62 "2023-04-25T17:19:43Z")
R Lee Ermey was a drill sergeant before becoming an actor, so this is likely art imitating life. He did write some of his own dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/63 "2023-04-25T17:38:15Z")
> [@solost](#): > > R. Lee Ermey had been an actual US Marine drill instructor. He was originally hired as a consultant, but was so good they put him in the movie. Another example of life imitating art imitating life Kubrick didn’t just pull Ermey out of obscurity and put him in a film, though. He did have a few acting roles before _Full Metal Jacket_. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/64 "2023-04-25T17:38:42Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Gangsters were imitating movies long before _The Godfather_. So the version of this I’ve heard is that it was specifically talking to police that Godfather and the later Scorsese movies changed forever. Prior to those movies IRL gangsters didn’t have a “gangster” way of speaking to the police, but the cops who worked on organized crime noticed a change after these films where gangsters who were arrested or interviewed would suddenly start talking like the characters in those films even though they hadn’t before. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/65 "2023-04-25T18:00:02Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Kubrick didn’t just pull Ermey out of obscurity and put him in a film, though. He did have a few acting roles before _Full Metal Jacket_. His first role was basically the prototype for his character in FMJ - Sgt. Loyce in “The Boys In Company C.” ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/66 "2023-04-25T18:00:16Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Kubrick didn’t just pull Ermey out of obscurity and put him in a film, though. He did have a few acting roles before _Full Metal Jacket_. Including The Boys in Company C where he was a marine drill instructor. Edit: silenus, drop and give me fifty! ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/67 "2023-04-25T18:06:17Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > Edit: silenus, drop and give me fifty! silenus ninja’d you; shouldn’t you be the one doing pushups? 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/68 "2023-04-25T18:13:11Z")
> [@solost](#): > > silenus ninja’d you; shouldn’t you be the one doing pushups? 🤨 WHO SAID THAT? WHO JUST SIGNED HIS OWN DEATH WARRANT? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/69 "2023-04-25T18:46:35Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > You’re probably thinking of [“scrumtrulescent.”](https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/scrumtrulescent) I was! Thanks. ---
**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:** [April 27, 2023, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/70 "2023-04-27T18:50:49Z")
I always thought it was neat that Anahiem’s hockey team is named _The Mighty Ducks_ after the movie. But it wouldn’t surprise me to find out the team is owned by Disney. Supposedly the idea of RL police shouting “Freeze” comes from TV/ movie dramas. I heard that some police actually draw lines around dead bodies like in the movies. Although, as you can guess forensic techs hate the practice. “Dale” was first used as a person’s name by writer Walter Scott. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/71 "2023-04-27T18:58:48Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Supposedly the idea of RL police shouting “Freeze” comes from TV/ movie dramas. And supposedly NASA got the idea for the rocket countdown from a 1929 Fritz Lang movie called “Woman in the Moon”: > **[NASA Stole the Rocket Countdown From a 1929 Fritz Lang Film](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/nasa-stole-the-rocket-countdown-from-a-1929-fritz-lang-film-1d569cc0-50ff-4045-b0c9-1f0d72a193db)** > > On December 1, 2014, NASA retired a historic piece of equipment at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It wasn’t a rocket, or even a deep space nine-iron—it was... ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2023, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/72 "2023-04-27T19:19:02Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > But it wouldn’t surprise me to find out the team is owned by Disney. > **[Anaheim Ducks | History](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaheim_Ducks#History)** > > The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim were founded in 1993 by The Walt Disney Company. The franchise was awarded by the NHL in December 1992, along with the rights to a Miami team that would become the Florida Panthers. An entrance fee of $50 million was required, half of which Disney would pay directly to the Los Angeles Kings in order to "share" the Greater Los Angeles media market. On March 1, 1993, at the brand-new Anaheim Arena – located a short distance east of Disneyland and across the Orange Fre Le... But they sold in 2005 to Henry and Susan Samueli, who currently own the team. ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/73 "2023-07-04T22:28:10Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Gem Plumbing, a local company here in New England obtained the toll free phone number (866) 867-5309 and has defended it’s use as a trademark. The phone number 867-5309 is well known from the [Tommy Tutone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/867-5309/Jenny) song [Jenny.](https://youtu.be/6WTdTwcmxyo) When that song was ubiquitous on FM rock radio, many stations obtained that number for their Request Line. ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/74 "2023-07-04T22:47:02Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > The modern use of the word “nimrod” to mean a fool or an idiot seems to trace back to Bugs Bunny. Nimrod was a grandson of Noah in the bible, and was a great hunter. In _A Wild Hare_, the first pairing of Bugs and Elmer Fudd, Bugs outsmarts Elmer and refers to him as “Nimrod”, and from the context it took on a new meaning. According to Dave Wilton’s awesome site [WordOrigins.org](http://WordOrigins.org), it was Daffy Duck who called Elmer Fudd a nimrod, which was already an insult, albeit slightly different. Check out his article on how this word has evolved several times. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/75 "2023-07-04T23:05:51Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The “Klingon” language I read somewhere (a link from here) that there were more new Klingon speakers than new Navajo speakers. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/76 "2023-07-04T23:19:48Z")
I could certainly believe that. Navajos are born; morons are made. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2023, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/77 "2023-07-05T15:24:22Z")
Wish I said that. I will say that some day when the occasion arises. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/78 "2023-07-05T16:38:01Z")
I often say the key to being witty is not to be quick; it’s to have a good memory. The situation will arise again, and _then_ you can pull that prefab zinger out of your back pocket. Now where did you get that zinger? The day after you stood there tongue-tied but suddenly had inspiration later while reviewing the conversation and kicking yourself. Ask me know I know this. OTOH, please don’t. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2023, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/79 "2023-07-05T16:58:32Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Now where did you get that zinger? The day after you stood there tongue-tied but suddenly had inspiration later while reviewing the conversation and kicking yourself. Ah, [ L’esprit de l’escalier. ](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjU3ZfAhPj_AhVwmIkEHQeNB2MQFnoECA4QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FL%2527esprit_de_l%2527escalier&usg=AOvVaw0p-3Pk0IYpfEnljoUxFzFr&opi=89978449) I have experienced it many times. ---
**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:** [July 5, 2023, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116/80 "2023-07-05T17:04:32Z")
> [@CaveMike](#): > > And similarly Wendy from **Peter Pan** The names “Oscar” and “Malvina” became popular after James MacPherson released his translations of the “Ossian” poem cycle in the 1760s. Except he didn’t translate them – he made them up. I’m not sure if those names eveb existed before he published, but hje’s certainly responsible for their popularity. And my Grandmother was named “Malvina”! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-of-life-intentionally-imitating-art/983116.md?page=5)