# Name that entertainment thingy from this vague reference? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-entertainment-thingy-from-this-vague-reference/470426 "2008-10-31T14:14:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Booker57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-entertainment-thingy-from-this-vague-reference/470426/61 "2008-11-01T00:24:39Z")
> [@maggenpye](#): > > Casablanca? > > What about that one where the guy was playing with his mashed potatoes and found the landing spot? “Close Encounters of the Third kind” CE3K to us geeks ---
**Author:** ![rayh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@rayh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayh)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-entertainment-thingy-from-this-vague-reference/470426/62 "2008-11-01T00:59:23Z")
“Potter!” “Yes sir?” “Don’t do that.” ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-entertainment-thingy-from-this-vague-reference/470426/63 "2008-11-01T01:20:37Z")
My ex-husband was kind and gave me a ride to the laundromat last weekend. He’d just seen a movie again and told me I really needed to see “The Driver”. Me: “?” He: “You know the one, with the guy with the suit.” Me: “The Transporter?” He: “Yup! That’s the one.” Me: sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-entertainment-thingy-from-this-vague-reference/470426/64 "2008-11-01T21:44:44Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > For anyone who thought this was too obscure, this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3-LxmrFm40](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3-LxmrFm40) is worth watching. Even if it was spoiled. (wipes tears away) Thank you for that. That was beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-entertainment-thingy-from-this-vague-reference/470426/65 "2008-11-02T00:52:01Z")
I once said to a friend, “What’s the origin of the line, um, . . .”, and before I had a chance to finish the sentence, he said, “You’re asking about the line, ‘Yngvi is a louse.’ It comes from the Incomplete Enchanter series by Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague de Camp.” I had just read one of the stories and encountered the line there. I knew that I had seen it somewhere before. He and I had both been to a science fiction convention where de Camp was guest of honor. Someone had written the line on a blackboard there and I half-remembered seeing it. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-entertainment-thingy-from-this-vague-reference/470426/66 "2008-11-03T20:19:06Z")
It doesn’t do anything. That’s the beauty of it! ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-entertainment-thingy-from-this-vague-reference/470426/67 "2008-11-03T21:28:33Z")
What about that film where that girl and that guy were having lunch somewhere and she pretended to do you-know-what? ---
**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:** [November 3, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-entertainment-thingy-from-this-vague-reference/470426/68 "2008-11-03T21:31:12Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > What about that film where that girl and that guy were having lunch somewhere and she pretended to do you-know-what? “I’ll have what she’s having!” _When Harry Met Sally_. Rob Reiner’s mother (who uttered that wonderful line) actually died this past Thursday, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-entertainment-thingy-from-this-vague-reference/470426/69 "2008-11-03T23:18:26Z")
That detective guy who’s always calling his secretary the wrong name. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-entertainment-thingy-from-this-vague-reference/470426/70 "2008-11-04T05:51:31Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I thought I’d heard somewhere that it was Don Cheadle’s idea to give his character the cockney accent in _Ocean’s 11_. You said the class was talking about an actor bringing something special to a role, so I took a guess. You know, that actually makes sense. I never had any interest in **Ocean’s 11** , so it may have been that I only thought **Traffic** was his most recent film. It would have been thoughtful for the teacher to explain that chain of reasoning though. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-entertainment-thingy-from-this-vague-reference/470426/71 "2008-11-04T14:05:10Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I thought I’d heard somewhere that it was Don Cheadle’s idea to give his character the cockney accent in _Ocean’s 11_. You said the class was talking about an actor bringing something special to a role, so I took a guess. Yeesh. And they thought this was a _good_ acting decision? ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-entertainment-thingy-from-this-vague-reference/470426/72 "2008-11-04T14:06:14Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > That detective guy who’s always calling his secretary the wrong name. Sam Spade - Maltese Falcon! ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-entertainment-thingy-from-this-vague-reference/470426/73 "2008-11-04T16:34:23Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > It doesn’t do anything. That’s the beauty of it! You’re not funny. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-entertainment-thingy-from-this-vague-reference/470426/74 "2008-11-04T20:44:27Z")
> [@maggenpye](#): > > Casablanca? > > What about that one where the guy was playing with his mashed potatoes and found the landing spot? Yep you’re right. My first thought on your question was Animal House but I’m probably wrong. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-entertainment-thingy-from-this-vague-reference/470426/75 "2008-11-04T20:48:04Z")
> [@singular1](#): > > Sam Spade - Maltese Falcon! No, not that one. The pretty boy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-entertainment-thingy-from-this-vague-reference/470426.md?page=3)