# Obvious things about a creative work you realize after the millionth time (OPEN SPOILERS POSSIBLE) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117 "2009-07-24T13:20:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/221 "2009-08-01T16:19:01Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > WHAT fell off? Augh–this thread is frustrating. His penis. Lyrics: Mother told me, yes she told me I’d meet girls like you She also told me stay away You’ll never know what you’ll catch Just the other day I heard Of a soldier’s falling off Some Indonesian junk That’s going 'round (…) Father says, “Your mother’s right, she’s really up on things” “Before we married, Mommy served in the WACS in the Philippines” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/222 "2009-08-01T17:04:56Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > I always thought that Born in the U.S.A. was a celebration of being American until one day I actually listened to the words and realised that it was about a Special Forces veteran who was left on the scrap heap after he had finished his time. Ronald Reagan made the same mistake while president. I recall him publicly praising Bruce Springsteen for his message of hope with that song. Springsteen was reportedly mighty perplexed. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/223 "2009-08-01T18:08:00Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > His penis. Oh. Note to self: Google lyrics prior to posting… And here’s something else (not part of a creative work) and you all can have a good laugh at my expense. Until I was in my 30s, I never knew why a freight train would haul 2-3 engines around with all those box and coal cars. They seem awfully heavy to drag. (and in my defense, I’ll say it’s hard to know if more than one diesel engine is functioning as they roll by). I mean, it’s not like it kept me up at night or anything, but I finally asked my husband this (we were stopped waiting for a very long train). When he stopped holding his sides, he informed me that the “extra” engines provided power. Well, go figure… ---
**Author:** ![jefahrbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@jefahrbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jefahrbach)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/224 "2009-08-02T01:24:28Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > “Sirius” is also the name of the Dog Star. Then of course there’s Remus Lupin. (Remus as in Romulus &, and Lupin as in lupine.) That is one thing that really annoyed me about those books. All her names were way too obvious & cutesy like that. Plus Lupin wasn’t born a werewolf, was he? He was attacked by one. Pretty lucky he already had that name then. :rolleyes: I agree. It was just too obvious that all she did was look at Latin translations of words and at mythology to name characters, places, and spells. It often disappointed me how easily decipherable they were. I mean: Sirius (“Dog Star”) Black can turn into a black dog, Sibyll (the Sibyls were prophets of mythology) Trelawney is a divination teacher and sometimes prophet herself, Gregory Goyle (as in “gargoyle”) was also an ugly, monstrous protector, the Malfoys (Latin “maleficus” means “evil-doer”) are an all around bad family, Gilderoy Lockhart (“gilded” as in covered in thin gold foil) hides a rotten inside with a handsome exterior, and Remus (from Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome who were suckled by a wolf as children) Lupin (“Lupus” is Latin for “wolf”) is _shock_ a werewolf. (Which I agree, he was lucky to be named that since years later he gets bitten by a werewolf and becomes one himself. One could say he should have seen it coming.) The different houses don’t need much thought either: Gryffindor’s symbol is a lion but a “griffin” is a mythological creature half eagle and half lion, Ravenclaw’s eagle symbol is self explanatory with the bird references (“raven”, “claw”), Hufflepuff with its badger I always took to be the sound of that badger foraging (“huff” “puff” sound of breath in the dirt), and Slytherin only makes sense to be a “slithering” snake. But especially the spells are like a slap in the face to one’s intelligence. They all are merely the Latin translation of what the spell’s effect is: “Lumos” means “light” and causes a light to appear, “Nox” means “darkness” and extinguishes that light, “Crucio” means “to torture” and is a curse that causes extreme pain, “Imperio” means “to command” and is a curse which puts someone under another’s control, “Accio” means “to summon” and is a summoning charm, “Expelliarmus” means “to expel” (expello) “weapon” (arma), and so on and so forth. I liked the books, but there really wasn’t much mystery to all of this even the first time I read them. I hope that with this extensive response to the Harry Potter thread on this post, this one can be laid to rest, unlike the Audi, Rosemary’s Baby, and “Brown-Eyed Girl” threads.😉 If anyone is more interested, I recommend looking at “The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter” by David Colbert. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/225 "2009-08-02T01:34:51Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > Writing in a foreign language, where your vocabulary is much smaller (even if you’re fluent), forces you to be more economic with your words. It’s not a feature of French, but of it being a second language to him. OK, this makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![PeskiPiksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/226 "2009-08-02T01:43:34Z")
> [@jefahrbach](#): > > …Gregory Goyle (as in “gargoyle”) was also an ugly, monstrous protector… Oh, this reminded me. Crabbe and Goyle=Grab and Coil. Very snakelike. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/227 "2009-08-02T01:56:06Z")
> [@jefahrbach](#): > > But especially the spells are like a slap in the face to one’s intelligence. They all are merely the Latin translation of what the spell’s effect is: “Lumos” means “light” and causes a light to appear, “Nox” means “darkness” and extinguishes that light, “Crucio” means “to torture” and is a curse that causes extreme pain, “Imperio” means “to command” and is a curse which puts someone under another’s control, “Accio” means “to summon” and is a summoning charm, “Expelliarmus” means “to expel” (expello) “weapon” (arma), and so on and so forth. One of them’s sorta from the Aramaic. “Abra kadabra” supposedly derives from the Aramaic _a’bara k’davra_, “I will create as I speak”. As it turns out, the imfamous killing curse, “avada kadvara”, means, “I will destroy as I speak”. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/228 "2009-08-02T02:38:38Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > One of them’s sorta from the Aramaic. “Abra kadabra” supposedly derives from the Aramaic _a’bara k’davra_, “I will create as I speak”. As it turns out, the imfamous killing curse, “avada kadvara”, means, “I will destroy as I speak”. Maybe it’s a nod to Shiva, who is both destroyer and creator. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/229 "2009-08-02T03:15:04Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Maybe it’s a nod to Shiva, who is both destroyer and creator. I thought Vishnu was creator and Shiva was destroyer. (And Brahma is protector) Of course, this being Hinduism, maybe we’re both right. Or neither of us. Or both. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/230 "2009-08-02T03:40:40Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I thought Vishnu was creator and Shiva was destroyer. (And Brahma is protector) > > Of course, this being Hinduism, maybe we’re both right. Or neither of us. Or both. I suppose that’s strictly true. But I’ve seen a lot of references in the past to Shiva as both creator and destroyer. ---
**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:** [August 2, 2009, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/231 "2009-08-02T04:08:22Z")
> [@sandra\_nz](#): > > I only recently realised that the badge for VW was a V on top of a W. I always thought it was just one big W and you were just supposed to look at the ‘first half’ of it for the V. Wow! :smack: > [@wolfman](#): > > It wasn’t until We were reading fairy tales in High School German that I understood Cinderella. > "Aschenputtel? Oh like ashy girl because she is dirty from cleaning the fireplace. Too bad they didn’t use a clever name like that in English for Cinder…[sub]ellla[/sub] :smack::smack::smack: Like…cinders? :smack::smack: > [@Chronos](#): > > Another one I just remembered: It was some time last year before I realized that the band with John, Paul, George, and Ringo was spelled differently from the insect. Beatles, as in “beat”. Before that, I think I just used both spellings interchangeably, and never noticed since spell-check recognizes both. Yeah, took me until I heard the Beatles talk about how they thought it up to realize the spelling difference. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/232 "2009-08-02T04:31:03Z")
> [@jefahrbach](#): > > But especially the spells are like a slap in the face to one’s intelligence. They all are merely the Latin translation of what the spell’s effect is: “Lumos” means “light” and causes a light to appear, “Nox” means “darkness” and extinguishes that light, “Crucio” means “to torture” and is a curse that causes extreme pain, “Imperio” means “to command” and is a curse which puts someone under another’s control, “Accio” means “to summon” and is a summoning charm, “Expelliarmus” means “to expel” (expello) “weapon” (arma), and so on and so forth. Some of them are grecian in origin like episkey and anapneo which translate as roughly, I repair and I breathe. Others are more esoteric like alohomora. I always thought avada kedavra was a take-off of abracadabra. Rowling’s way of taking a familiar and cliched part of fantasy and turning it upside down. ---
**Author:** ![FourDeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b38774/32.png) [@FourDeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FourDeer)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/233 "2009-08-02T09:07:17Z")
Nobody: Your wife is correct about “Bones” \< “Sawbones”; that’s straight from Roddenberry. And no, I can’t give a proper cite; it’s just something I remember from a TV Guide interview from a hundred years ago or so. Eleanorigby: In your defense, the “Diagon Alley” thing works better in a British accent. Yanks say “die-YAG-gunnully”; Brits say, approximately, “DIE-a-GONN-elly”. If you had grown up saying DIE-a-GONN-elly instead of die-YAG-gunnully, I am sure you would have gotten Diagon Alley right away. (Unless you are, in fact, British. In which case, oopsie!) Panache45: Someone DID mention the FedEx arrow. Roadfood, post # 78, page 2, about halfway down. ---
**Author:** ![FourDeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b38774/32.png) [@FourDeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FourDeer)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/234 "2009-08-02T09:39:12Z")
This is slightly off OP topic; my apologies. My further apologies for continuing the subthread after Jefahrbach suggested ending it. For the record, I love the Potter books. But one thing seriously bugged me, still bugs me; related to Eyebrows of Doom’s and Jefahrbach’s gripes: She was frequently, I don’t know how to put this, careless or disrespectful or uninsightful or something, about the nature of magic itself. For example, in battles, she treats wands as though they were ray-guns: people shoot spells at one another, and if their aim – their physical aim – is off, the spells miss! Well, to my mind, any spell worth casting ought to be “smart”, at least; surely the aiming device is not the hand, or even the wand, but the intent in the mind of the spell-caster. How could that miss? This is exacerbated in the movies; but it’s there in the books as well. Along the same lines, in Halfblood Prince, Harry begins to recite aloud a dangerous curse whose meaning he does not know – and it works! So if the magic lies in the words themselves, then anybody, including a Muggle, could pick up a spellbook and go to town. But a major premise of the series is that only these special people have magical power, and they have to go to special schools for years to learn how to deploy it, and it requires intense mental focus. She isn’t consistent about this; e.g., the teleportation lessons illustrate what seems to me to be a more plausible magic-acquisition process. But, to return to something a little closer to the OP, a counterbalancing delight, for me, is that some, though not all, of her monstrous or magical menaces are shrewd descriptions of mental and emotional ailments. The most obvious one, of course, is that the Dementors/Azkaban = depression; but there are several others. I made a list once; can’t find it; will return with it if I do. But, yeah, the Latin is simplistic. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/235 "2009-08-02T12:34:30Z")
Paul Simon’s “My Little Town”: I always thought it was an American “Penny Lane,” wistfully longing for a more innocent time. I heard this song on the radio a few times in high school in the 70s and promptly forgot it. I happened upon the lyrics again recently and he fuckin’ HATED that place! Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/236 "2009-08-02T13:47:14Z")
> [@FourDeer](#): > > Eleanorigby: In your defense, the “Diagon Alley” thing works better in a British accent. Yanks say “die-YAG-gunnully”; Brits say, approximately, “DIE-a-GONN-elly”. Not as far as I’m aware - I’ve never heard anybody from Britain pronounce “diagonally” without the stress on the 1st a. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/237 "2009-08-02T15:28:58Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Gopher? What gopher? He whistles when he talks … remember now? He tries to get rabbit unstuck when he gets stuck in his hole. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/238 "2009-08-02T15:41:08Z")
> [@](#): > > It bothers me that the Pleiades are commonly called “The Seven Sisters” (in the western hemisphere, anyway) but my Subaru’s logo has only six stars. It bothers me that they’re called the “Seven Sisters”, too, but that’s the Europeans’ fault, not the car company’s. The seventh-brightest and eighth-brightest stars in the Pleiades are just about the same brightness, so if your eye or telescope is sharp enough to pick up seven stars, it’ll also be sharp enough to pick up eight. So depending on how good your vision is, they should either be the “Six Sisters” or the “Eight Sisters”. > [@](#): > > Doubtful. Kanga and Roo are _probably_ not real animals. Well, no, but there’s not an animal called a “roo”, or a “kanga”. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/239 "2009-08-02T19:03:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It bothers me that they’re called the “Seven Sisters”, too, but that’s the Europeans’ fault, not the car company’s. The seventh-brightest and eighth-brightest stars in the Pleiades are just about the same brightness, so if your eye or telescope is sharp enough to pick up seven stars, it’ll also be sharp enough to pick up eight. So depending on how good your vision is, they should either be the “Six Sisters” or the “Eight Sisters”. You’ve provided the clarification I was hoping for. 10-Q veddy much! . ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/240 "2009-08-02T20:33:28Z")
True. (Gopher is a Disney creation, by the way.) And you’re right, all the animals except Rabbit and Owl are toys, and named after ‘real’ toys. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117.md?page=13)