# 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:** 131
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2601 "2016-11-11T00:11:16Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > But [uh, SPOILERS] Lonnegan already hired a famous assassin to kill a nobody small-time grifter [Hooker] who stole a little bit from a low-level courier in Lonnegan’s organization. Why wouldn’t he do at least as much for the guys who stole much much more from him personally? You missed the point. Nobody stole anything from him: he made a mistake in placing his bet. Of course, he doesn’t like loosing money, even when it’s his own fault, and he’s the kind of guy who might just lean on you, or steal the money back — And then the place was busted by the Fed’s, so there was nobody and nothing left. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2602 "2016-11-14T17:01:47Z")
> [@Recliner](#): > > But, dammit, there was room for both of them on that door! Rose, you selfish bitch! > > 😃 It wasn’t lack of room, it was that it was unstable with two. (N.B. done carefully, they possibly could have managed it, but where’s the drama in that?) ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2603 "2016-11-14T17:05:03Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Just thought of one. When I was I kid I spent endless amounts of time trying to figure out how to pronounce the apostrophes in J’onn J’onzz, Manhunter from Mars. Juh-honnn Jun-own-zezzz? > > That was back when the audience for comic books was under ten, and they wrote at the right level for them. A Martian! Named J’onn J’onzz! Neat-o! Sidebar to this: Robert Heinlein made the statement that a librarian commented to him on the weird names used for aliens - so he wrote a book about a Martian named Smith. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2604 "2016-11-14T17:15:11Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Scarecrow wants a brain…yet he’s the smartest guy in the group who comes up with all the ideas. > Tinman wants a heart, but he’s a sentimental lug. > Cowardly lion wants courage, and he’s the toughest SOB there. > > Duh. Kind of related in the obverse sense - When I took my daughter to see “Wreck-it Ralph” I had to explain why I nearly lost it when the (cookie) guards in the Palace solemnly intoned “Ohh-Ree-Ohh”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2605 "2016-11-14T17:24:52Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > I’ve owned Subarus for years…and only recently found out that “Subaru” is Japanese for Pleiades, hence the logo. I did that one too. A Japanese exchange student we hosted tried to explain it to me, but we missed connecting due to linguistic barriers. The “penny dropped” when I noticed that the (old) logo was the constellation. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2606 "2016-11-14T17:29:51Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Backfield in motion…? > > I’ve posted this one before, but it took many years of listening and not hearing before I realized Scarborough Fair is about impossible demands: > > Tell her to make me a cambric shirt, > Without no seams nor needlework When you hear the ENTIRE folk song, it’s much more obvious. The final verse explains the love asks the impossible, but if she is willing to try “Then she’ll be a true love of mine.” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2607 "2016-11-14T17:42:10Z")
> [@MacLir](#): > > Kind of related in the obverse sense - > > When I took my daughter to see “Wreck-it Ralph” I had to explain why I nearly lost it when the (cookie) guards in the Palace solemnly intoned “Ohh-Ree-Ohh”. 😃 At the old Hollywood Library, before the fire, they had a original script for Wizard of Oz, with notes. That song was notated as having the lyrics of “Oh we love, no-one”. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2608 "2016-11-14T17:51:22Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > No no, it’s “Hurts So Good” that’s about anal. Sometimes love don’t feel like it should. > > Apologies to all who will now never be able to hear that song without thinking of anal sex. Slightly off on a tangent (which will be a pun based on the rest). I always enjoyed the song “A Time for Us”, which uses Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet” as tune. Then I learned that Tchaikovsky: [ul] [li]was gay[/li][li]wrote it to a young prince who was probably his lover[/li][/ul] Now when I hear it, the double meanings just keep coming. ♫… as we unveil the love we now must hide…♫ :eek: ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2609 "2016-11-14T18:35:17Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > 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. > > . The original was a representation of the constellation and had seven, representing the seven partners. Then there were corporate changes, and now the logo is six stars, one larger than the rest, and not arranged in the constellation. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2610 "2016-11-14T18:37:57Z")
> [@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. And yet it seems to get heavily used in Fourth of July celebrations. Most folks also miss the revelation you found. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2611 "2016-11-14T18:45:37Z")
> [@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. In a simulation game I enjoy there is a spell for creating gold. When invoked, the narrator voice intones “_Expressus Americanum_”. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2612 "2016-11-14T19:20:03Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I wonder how many concertgoers listening to a performance of Wagner’s _Die Walküre_ can’t help humming to themselves, ["Kill the Wabbit! Kill the Wabbit!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxiv3CBMS4M) Guilty as charged! ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2613 "2016-11-14T19:23:22Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I spend half the time I listen to Wagner singing Bugs Bunny’s lyrics and the other half reciting Anna Russell’s monologue. “… Mrs. Freyda Wotan …” 😃 Listened to it just the other day. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2614 "2016-11-14T21:42:56Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Sherlock Holmes was actually a total jerk who treated Watson like a retarded child. “Elementary, my dear Watson” actually means “What an idiot you are, Watson.” I figured this out after becoming a huge fan of House MD and learning it was based on Sherlock Holmes. As Holmes puts it in the recent movie: “High-functioning sociopath” > [@Superhal](#): > > (As a side note, this is also a very famous fact: House and Wilson are supposedly Holmes and Watson.) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle indicated that Holmes was based on a doctor he had known > [@Superhal](#): > > Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes) has some severe emotional and psychological problems. Named after John Calvin, a 16th-century French Reformation theologian, and Thomas Hobbes, a 17th-century English political philosopher, in this case Calvin is the one associated with the phrase “Nasty, brutish, and short.” ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2615 "2016-11-14T22:14:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Measures marked by brackets: > > [Twinkle, Twinkle] [Little Star] [How I wonder] [what you are] > [Bah Bah black sheep] [Have you any wool?] [Yes, sir, yes, sir] [Three bags full] > [ABCD] [EFG] [HIJK] [LMNOP] Twinkle and ABCD are the same, but in Black Sheep, the measures are inverted. If you sing/hum/play it as [Yes, sir, yes, sir] [Three bags full] [Bah Bah black sheep] [Have you any wool?] you get the other tune. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2016, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2616 "2016-11-14T22:14:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by Superhal > Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes) has some severe emotional and psychological problems. [Yup](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyXJfUPSQhM) ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2617 "2016-11-14T22:19:45Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > No no no, it was W-_Carp_. Don’t you remember the carp mascot costume for public appearances? And wasn’t there a carp-dropped-from-plane publicity stunt? > 😛 No that was turkeys. “I swear to God I thought they could fly!” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2618 "2016-11-14T22:27:50Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I’m native British, and I’ve never heard the phrase. I know what a duvet is, but not a comforter. Must be an American thing. My connotation of the terms is that the fluffy thing is the comforter, and the “pillowcase” thing over it is the duvet. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2619 "2016-11-14T22:35:05Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > You missed the point. Nobody stole anything from him: he made a mistake in placing his bet. Of course, he doesn’t like loosing money, even when it’s his own fault, and he’s the kind of guy who might just lean on you, or steal the money back — And then the place was busted by the Fed’s, so there was nobody and nothing left. Lonnegan is probably going to figure out what happened at some point. There’ll be no mention of the killings in the next day’s newspapers. If Snyder (Charles Durning) calls in some backup there’ll be no one at the crime scene when they get there. Someone is liable to recognize the name Henry Gondorff and tell him he’s a con man. And when Lonnegan does find out, the fact that he made the last bet to win and the horse finished second is probably not going to help. He doesn’t strike me as the forgiving sort. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2620 "2016-11-14T22:36:46Z")
MacLir, please note that the posts you are quoiting are several years old. The conversation has moved on since then. Some of the people might not even be here any longer. And if you really feel a need to reply, please don’t use a separate post for each. Please put them all in a single post. [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=130) [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=132)