# 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:** 228
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4545 "2022-01-20T13:44:52Z")
“Friends” and “bends” are exact rhymes. Anything else is not, so it’s clear that those are the correct words. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4546 "2022-01-20T22:11:16Z")
I don’t think “Benz” and “friends” is a jarringly bad rhyme. Not like “Texas,” “facts is,” “justice,” and “taxes,” for instance. (I, too, thought it was “definitely” and “Benz” until today.) ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4547 "2022-01-20T22:53:10Z")
I keep seeing an online ad for Carvana, that depicts a llama watching a farmer drive up in his beat-up old pickup truck, with his passenger window down and his dog’s head lolling in the wind. Next scene is the llama going to a computer, then a Carvana truck delivering a new SUV. The final scene is the SUV driving down the road, with the llama’s head stuck through a sunroof. For some reason, I had it in my mind that the llama and the dog were buying the farmer a new truck for Christmas. Saw the ad again yesterday, and finally realized that the llama was _jealous_ of the dog, and she bought the farmer the SUV so that she too could stick her head out of the truck. 🤦 ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4548 "2022-01-20T22:55:57Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > In all fairness, the GG cast might have been playing early to mid-fifties but they were really in their sixties (with the exception of Rue, who did seem younger than the rest). Specifically, Rue McClanahan (born Feb '34) was around the same age as her character - a full decade younger than Estelle Getty (July '23) who was a year younger than Betty White and Bea Arthur (Jan and May '22). So, when they started the show, Rue was a 51 year old playing someone in her early 50s, Estelle was a 62 year old playing her mid 80s, and Betty and Bea were 63 year olds playing their early 50s. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2022, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4549 "2022-01-20T22:59:02Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > So, when they started the show, Rue was a 51 year old playing someone in her early 50s, Estelle was a 62 year old playing her mid 80s, and Betty and Bea were 63 year olds playing their early 50s. As a kid, I did not realize that Betty and Bea were supposed to be in their early 50’s. I guess I figured everyone except Estelle Getty was playing their age and it was just a wide range of “golden” ages together. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4550 "2022-01-21T02:01:39Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > I don’t think “Benz” and “friends” is a jarringly bad rhyme. > > Not like “Texas,” “facts is,” “justice,” and “taxes,” for instance. > > (I, too, thought it was “definitely” and “Benz” until today.) It isn’t bad. It’s just not exact. Usually lyricists go for exact rhymes. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4551 "2022-01-21T02:06:03Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Usually lyricists go for exact rhymes. Like the time Ozzy rhymed “masses” with “masses.” You don’t get much more exact than that. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4552 "2022-01-21T02:16:26Z")
There is virtually no difference in how I pronounce _Benz_ and _bends_. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4553 "2022-01-21T03:45:24Z")
I was going to say that although I don’t know what most lyricists go for, I don’t think one person in a thousand would naturally pronounce (or sing) “bends” in a way that could be clearly distinguished from “Benz.” And I admit that, having read it, it’s a pretty clever turn of phrase. But I’d wager that \>99% of people who’ve only heard the song without reading the lyrics took it to be “Benz,” not “bends.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4554 "2022-01-21T04:23:00Z")
I never knew it was “Tiffany-twisted”. I always wondered why the word “definitely” was being said in such a strange way. Huh. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4555 "2022-01-21T04:24:07Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > > [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > > > So, when they started the show, Rue was a 51 year old playing someone in her early 50s, Estelle was a 62 year old playing her mid 80s, and Betty and Bea were 63 year olds playing their early 50s. > > As a kid, I did not realize that Betty and Bea were supposed to be in their early 50’s. I guess I figured everyone except Estelle Getty was playing their age and it was just a wide range of “golden” ages together. I thought it was supposed to be late 50’s for Betty and Bea when they started, and that Rue’s character actually was a few years younger than they were. I don’t know why I thought that, but it still seems right to me. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2022, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4556 "2022-01-21T06:37:39Z")
A radio quiz show I listen to once did a round of song lyrics; the host gave one line and panelists had to answer with the following line (for full points, they had to sing it). One of the lines was _Her mind is Tiffany twisted, she got the Mercedes Benz_ The panelists did not get it. Just that one line, in isolation, spoken, and without music, could be hard to identify. There were also _We can try to understand the New York Times’ effect on man_ and _There’s a man in evening clothes, how he got here I don’t know_ ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4557 "2022-01-21T13:10:02Z")
I think there’s a photo of Ozzy under “Chutzpah” in the dictionary… ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4558 "2022-01-21T16:18:15Z")
@Robot_Arm Fun! Someone should start a thread. I got the first one but not the second. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4559 "2022-01-21T16:21:20Z")
Same here. The first is **Stayin’ Alive** but not sure of the second. **Nowhere Man** , maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4560 "2022-01-21T16:26:00Z")
It’s _Twistin’ the Night Away_. (No, I didn’t google it. 🕶) ---
**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:** [January 21, 2022, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4561 "2022-01-21T16:26:44Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There’s a man in evening clothes, how he got here I don’t know Man, you ought to see him go Twisting the night away. Didn’t need to look it up. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2022, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4562 "2022-01-23T13:21:29Z")
Are Benz and bends pronounced differently in your dialect? They’re identical in mine. (It’s easy to get distracted by spelling, but really pay attention to the position of your mouth parts as you pronounce each one — and say them as you would in normal speech). ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2022, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4563 "2022-01-23T15:19:09Z")
I find that my tongue makes firmer and slightly longer contact with the roof of my mouth on “bends.” It may affect the pronunciation to a small degree, but not really enough to make a significant difference to a listener. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2022, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4564 "2022-01-23T17:24:54Z")
Perhaps, but “bends” and “friends” is also a visual rhyme, both ending with the same four letters. It is a cleaner rhyme than “Benz,” which doesn’t look the same. Even better, “bends” is a pun in this context. Much superior wordplay. [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=227) [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=229)