# 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:** 6
**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:** [July 29, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/101 "2009-07-29T18:44:04Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I’ve never heard or read of anyone making the same realization as I did about Beckett’s “Waiting For Godot”, which I read in high school. For some reason, Vladimir and Estragon refer to one another as “Didi” and “Gogo”. Only a year or two later, after I started taking first-year Mandarin at the university, did I realize that those pet names are actually Mandarin for “litte brother” and “big brother”. Is there any reason to think this is anything other than a coincidence? Did Beckett speak or understand Mandarin? In any case, it’s not exactly obvious, as the OP asked. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/102 "2009-07-29T18:45:20Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > So is the “Rose” supposed to equate somehow to “anti”, or something, or is it meaningless? Yes and no on the meaningless, I think. I’m probably the last person who should be addressing this, but I’m now understanding it to aknowledge that we’re all aware of the famous “Mary’s baby”, aka The Lord, and that this is a Mary of a different kind with an equally formidable bun in her oven. It kind of makes more sense of you say it as “\*Rose \*Mary” with the emphasis on “Rose”. It refers to and also differentiates her from the original Mary. And now that I have wasted everyone’s time by belaboring this, I would like to conclude with the explanation that not being Christian, I never think of Christ, on thoses rare occasions that I ponder him at all, as “The Son of Mary” so Mr. Levin’s little play on words was lost on my poor, dense soul. I shall shut up now :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/103 "2009-07-29T19:39:47Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Maybe, maybe not. > > When I was in college I took a class called Analysis of Song Lyrics. We pulled this one apart. We came up with three (maybe more) explanations for that line: > > -Lines of cocaine on a mirror > -Cracks in a rearview mirror after a car crash > -Facial wrinkles > > Our conclusion was that it was all three and so packed with meaning. We may have been reading too much into it, though. Well, after mentioning lines on the mirror it goes “There were lines on her face” which I assume would be the wrinkles. And if you remember, how did you guys come up with cracks from a car crash? ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/104 "2009-07-29T19:44:11Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > It’s easier to see in the full-length version, as the broadcast one cuts a few important bits to fit in an extra commercial – most importantly, the scene where Macy and Gimbel are fighting over who gets to buy Kris the X-Ray machine so they can look good in front of the press. From [Miracle on 34th Street Script - transcript from the screenplay and/or classic 1947 Natalie Wood movie](http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/m/miracle-on-34th-street-script.html) which purports to be the film dialogue (reformatting and minor corrections by me). It matches my memory, though, and has been in the movie every time I’ve seen it. > [@](#): > > MACY: Just a minute. I have something I’d like to give our friend here. This is a little something to show my appreciation for all you’ve done. > > KRIS: Thank you, Mr. Macy. Ooh! That’s very kind of you. I didn’t think you were that generous. > > GIMBEL(?) That’s a bit of money. What are you going to do with it? > > KRIS: Well, I have a friend. A doctor. He’s been very kind to me. He needs an x-ray machine. > > MACY: I don’t think that’s going to be enough. > > GIMBEL: I’ll make up the difference. > > MACY: Buy it through the store. Get [?]% discount. > > GIMBEL: I can get it for cost. > > [The three look at each other, then laugh.] I’m not disputing your point. I’m only asking what evidence for your point was cut from that part of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/105 "2009-07-29T20:29:54Z")
I remember this scene, too, **rowrrbazzle** … there were photographers in the scene, taking pictures. I always wondered why Macy’s would be selling x-ray machines. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/106 "2009-07-29T20:49:23Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > I remember this scene, too, **rowrrbazzle** … there were photographers in the scene, taking pictures. > > I always wondered why Macy’s would be selling x-ray machines. I don’t think they sold them - they used to use them in shoe-selling departments. Yes, really. So the store would have a way to buy them as equipment. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/107 "2009-07-29T20:51:08Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > And if you remember, how did you guys come up with cracks from a car crash? Keep in mind that this was like 27 years ago, so my memory isn’t exactly fresh. But I think it was life in the fast lane, you’re driving really fast, so you could crash and break a mirror. I think. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/108 "2009-07-29T21:18:20Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > **Young Frankenstein** : In Inspector Kemp’s first scene at the town meeting, he breathes on his monocle, polishes it on his jacket, and then puts it on the eye that has an eyepatch on it. > > And I think there a later scene where the torch-bearing mob is out looking for the monster and he puts a finger to his mouth to shoosh them that it’s his left arm that’s wooden. (All the other times it’s his right.) I’ll have to see it again to confirm that. The eyepatch probably changes sides, too. Igor’s hump does. Sorry…Eye-gore. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/109 "2009-07-29T23:55:33Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Keep in mind that this was like 27 years ago, so my memory isn’t exactly fresh. > > But I think it was life in the fast lane, you’re driving really fast, so you could crash and break a mirror. > > I think. I see what you’re getting at. I’m still sticking to cocaine\*, but I see what you’re getting at. I’m talking about interpreting the song lyrics, of course 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/110 "2009-07-30T00:53:15Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > Yeah, I’ve asked twice about the A in Audi A4/6/8. I still don’t get it. For anyone who does, could you please explain? The A stands for Audi. At least that’s all I can figure. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/111 "2009-07-30T01:11:50Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Is there any reason to think this is anything other than a coincidence? Did Beckett speak or understand Mandarin? > > In any case, it’s not exactly obvious, as the OP asked. It was obvious to me, looking back after a single semester of first-year Chinese. Two characters who exhibit an older brother-younger brother relationship, calling each other the exact terms used in Chinese to describe such a relationship, gives me an inkling that Beckett may have picked up a dictionary or asked a Chinese friend about those words at some point in writing the play. ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/112 "2009-07-30T01:25:45Z")
I had just assumed they were nicknames rising out of Vla **di** mir–Didi, and Estra **go** n–Gogo. At least, that was the party line when I studied the play in a British Literature class. And I hated it anyway, so my memory is probably not sparkling. ---
**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 30, 2009, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/113 "2009-07-30T05:40:41Z")
> [@FalconFinder](#): > > I \*OWNED \*my Saturn for more than 5 years before I finally noticed the logo was a portion of the planet! :eek: John Byrne, in the intro to his revamping of the Superman comics, told how for the longest time he saw Supey’s chest shield as two fishy shapes swimming past each other… and then finally “reversed” the perception and saw… the letter S! This is the guy who at the time was, if not THE Supes artist, was at the least drawing a LOT of Our Favorite Kryptonian Exchange Student. He went on to explain that even though the S shield makes sense now, he still draws Superman’s logo as two fishy shapes swimming past each other… wow. ---
**Author:** ![bink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@bink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bink)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/114 "2009-07-30T06:46:04Z")
In XTC’s _Senses Working Overtime_, he says “all the world is football-shaped”. It took me a long time to realize he’s English and meant a sphere! ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/115 "2009-07-30T07:53:27Z")
I have two. The first is the jingle at the end of Kay Jewelers ads–“Every kiss begins with Kay.” I never realized until this past Christmas that they were trying to make a play on words: The letter “K” is spelled “kay” phonetically. Also, the Neighborhood Watch eye. I didn’t realize it was an eye with the pupil off center, you know, as when someone is “WATCHING”. 🙂 until I was a teenager. I always saw it as a spinner of some sort, the pupil being the axis on which the spinner spun. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/116 "2009-07-30T08:17:40Z")
When I was a kid, I devoured the Narnia books multiple times in a row. In _The voyage of the Dawn Treader_ there’s a section from Eustace’s diary where Lucy gives him some of her scant water ration explaining “girls don’t get as thirsty as boys.”. To which his response is that he always thought as much and that this sort of thing “ought to be more generally known”. So it was about 3 or 4 years of me mentally shouting at the book “Yes We Do you silly bint!” before I realised - duh - _she was lying to make him feel better_, and he was so clueless that it was a completely wasted effort, since he was selfish enough to have taken it even if he DID realise she was as thirsty as him ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/117 "2009-07-30T08:39:58Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > The A stands for Audi. At least that’s all I can figure. Aluminium, I think. The A-line was introduced when they replaced the steel platform with an all-aluminium space frame, which was reportedly the first implementation of one in a mass-market car. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/118 "2009-07-30T12:33:23Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > Aluminium, I think. The A-line was introduced when they replaced the steel platform with an all-aluminium space frame, which was reportedly the first implementation of one in a mass-market car. I really hope it’s this, because if the Audi A6 is supposed to mean “Audi Audi 6”, I’d have to direct a major rolleyes their way. And they’d be quaking in their boots, yo. ---
**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/119 "2009-07-30T16:55:20Z")
> [@Roadfood](#): > > :smack: Um, no, I didn’t. Over the years, every now and then when seeing the logo, the thought would flit across my mind as to why a car named “Infiniti” had a stylized “A” in a circle for it’s logo . . . > > But in defense of my brain cells, I had no trouble spotting the arrow in the Fed Ex logo. Wikipedia says the Infiniti logo is a stylized representation of Mt. Fuji. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/120 "2009-07-30T16:57:05Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > I really hope it’s this, because if the Audi A6 is supposed to mean “Audi Audi 6”, I’d have to direct a major rolleyes their way. And they’d be quaking in their boots, yo. I’m pretty sure. While I haven’t been able to find a definite cite for it so far (I guess they must relish the mystery of it.), I did find out yesterday that the A2 concept model was given the internal designation Al2 for utilizing the second iteration of the aluminium frame. [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=5) [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=7)