# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/161 "2009-07-31T17:52:49Z")
Took me 15 or 20 years to figure out that “My Aim is True” in Elvis Costello’s Alison has a double meaning. (1. my intentions are pure, 2. I have good aim, so you can count on me to put out the big light. I always thought it was “my intentions are pure”, but upon realizing the double meaning, I mentioned it to my dad who always thought it was the other one – interesting different approaches to world, I guess) ---
**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:** [July 31, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/162 "2009-07-31T17:55:34Z")
> [@Histrion](#): > > I was in college - I don’t remember what year, or what class I was sitting in, or what - when suddenly I looked up and said, possibly aloud: > > "Oh my God. ‘Fargo North, Decoder!’ " Um, what? ---
**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:** [July 31, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/163 "2009-07-31T17:56:57Z")
Not sure if it’s been mentioned in this thread yet, but there was recently an entire thread started by someone who just got the Britney Spears song, “If You Seek Amy.” ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/164 "2009-07-31T17:57:37Z")
> [@PeskiPiksi](#): > > And Hagrid, Dumbledore, and Sirius all have “color” names. (Rubeus=red, Albus=white, Black=um, black.) It has something to do with alchemy, but don’t ask me what. “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: ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/165 "2009-07-31T18:00:17Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Not sure if it’s been mentioned in this thread yet, but there was recently an entire thread started by someone who just got the Britney Spears song, “If You Seek Amy.” I never knew those were actually words!! I’ve only heard the song and thought she was just spelling out “F-u-c-k me.” ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/166 "2009-07-31T18:03:36Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Um, what? Just let this one go. Don’t think about it, you’ll just get pissed. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/167 "2009-07-31T18:10:39Z")
> [@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 still think she spent too much time listening to the Musical of “The Secret Garden” in her past which is why she came up with the whole Lily’s eyes thing. Every time I read a reference to Harry having Lily’s green eyes the song “Lily’s Eyes” would earworm it’s way into my head. (Lily’s eyes were apparently hazel in the musical.) > [@Morbo](#): > > I’ve owned Subarus for years…and only recently found out that “Subaru” is Japanese for Pleiades, hence the logo. I’ve owned a Subaru for almost 4 years now and never caught that reference. Thanks. > [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > Also in the **Terminator** movies, the man who is destined to save mankind from doom (whose father is a mystery to everyone) is John Conner, whose initials would be J.C. - kind of like another well-known savior with an ambiguous paternity… This seems to be a fairly common trope. In the Deus Ex games, J.C. Denton is the intended savior of mankind. > [@Nobody](#): > > That’s what I always thought. So if it’s them on the horses, what does their discussion at the beginning mean then? The way I understand it is that these two are on a mission to upset the status quo and the castle is meant to be their first target. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/168 "2009-07-31T18:13:19Z")
And I forgot to add my sudden realization. I had seen Men In Black many times. I even own it, but it wasn’t until my sixth or seventh viewing that I realized that K was the kid in the truck who took the wrong turn. And the flowers that he brought were for his girlfriend who he was going to propose to that night. I always thought K was one of the original MiB at that meeting. ---
**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:** [July 31, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/169 "2009-07-31T18:18:21Z")
Thought of another one. In Texas, we had Aggie jokes. An Aggie is a student at Texas A&M University, a pretty darned good school, up there with the best in the country, but for some reason a culture of jokes has grown up with the basic theme of how dumb the students are. For most of them, you could probably substitute “Polish” for “Aggie,” and it would work the same, regarding Polish jokes, which I think were common elsewhere back when I was younger. This one joke went: “Did you hear about the Aggie who couldn’t spell? He spent $25 to spend the night in a warehouse.” I was just a kid and didn’t get it. I even asked my father about it, and he pretended he didn’t know. (I’m convinced he was pretending; he didn’t like to talk about stuff like that.) ---
**Author:** ![Histrion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/76d3ee/32.png) [@Histrion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Histrion)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/170 "2009-07-31T18:18:41Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Um, what? > **[The Electric Company | Selected recurring characters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Electric_Company_%281971_TV_series%29#Selected_recurring_characters)** > > 1.The Blond-Haired Cartoon Man (Mel Brooks): a character who would read words appearing on screen. However, they often showed up in the wrong order or made no sense. Thus, the character would resort to correcting the words. | > 2.The Blue Beetle (Jim Boyd): a bungling superhero who often made matters worse instead of better when he tried to help; he often challenged Spider-Man. | > 3.Clayton: a claymation character, animated by Will Vinton during season six, who commented on the previous skit or in... ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/171 "2009-07-31T18:22:02Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > The riddle that haunted, yes, _haunted_ me for years was: > > “If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?” > > Answer? Pilgrims! > > I think I figured this one out about 10 years after I heard it. ☹ What’s a metaphor? For _cows_, silly! ---
**Author:** ![Histrion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/76d3ee/32.png) [@Histrion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Histrion)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/172 "2009-07-31T18:25:24Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > What’s a metaphor? > > For _cows_, silly! OK, that one took me a minute. I had to put my inner voice in a very Southern place. ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/173 "2009-07-31T18:43:24Z")
> [@Crawlspace](#): > > - Almost everything in Wonka’s office is split in half lengthwise. When he gets angry at Grandpa Joe, he starts reading him the contract, “The undersigned waives all rights and privileges here in contained et cetera et cetra.” Looking closely, the contract is split in half length wise. The et cetera’s are just place holders for the missing half. I remember seeing that the first time in the theater and thinking, “Ah, Mr. Wonka’s recently divorced.” ---
**Author:** ![Histrion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/76d3ee/32.png) [@Histrion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Histrion)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/174 "2009-07-31T18:45:35Z")
> [@palindromemordnilap](#): > > 1. For 10 years I worked at a building where one of the other cars had the vanity plate XANITAX, and I always wondered if it referred to a tax accountant, or pharmaceutical sales, or what? When I finally got it, I felt particularly stupid because > > My sister’s name is Anita. I don’t think that’s obvious at all. AFAIK, using X’s as a graphical element to mark off the beginning and end of a word (or to separate words) has only become common in the past few years, and a license place wouldn’t be the usual context for that. Even if the X’s represent “kisses,” it still doesn’t jump out at ya. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/175 "2009-07-31T18:53:47Z")
> [@Histrion](#): > > OK, that one took me a minute. I had to put my inner voice in a very Southern place. :o I had to google it. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/176 "2009-07-31T18:56:13Z")
> [@Hoopy\_Frood](#): > > The way I understand it is that these two are on a mission to upset the status quo and the castle is meant to be their first target. Thank you for answering my question from three pages ago. I’m Googling around to try and find the meaning of the song, and not only is it hard to find, but on [SongMeanings.net](http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/5727/) there are a million different interpretations. OK, I have another one, although, like some others around here, I had to be told about it. I was talking to my wife about reading the movie spoiler for the recent star trek movie and the conversation about how Dr. McCoy got his nick name of bones\* and she thought it was stupid. When I said that they never gave an explanation of his nick name in the original series she said that doctors use to be called sawbones and she figured that bones was just a shortening of that. I had never heard the term sawbones before to refer to a doctor, which is why I never got his nickname. \*After a divorce he said the only thing he had left to his name were his bones ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/177 "2009-07-31T19:10:27Z")
> [@Hoopy\_Frood](#): > > I still think she spent too much time listening to the Musical of “The Secret Garden” in her past which is why she came up with the whole Lily’s eyes thing. Every time I read a reference to Harry having Lily’s green eyes the song “Lily’s Eyes” would earworm it’s way into my head. (Lily’s eyes were apparently hazel in the musical.) Ha! Same here! Every time I would read that in the book I would picture Alan Rickman trying to sing that song. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/178 "2009-07-31T19:12:58Z")
It wasn’t until just a couple of years ago (I’m 62) while hearing The Who’s “Momma’s Got A Squeezebox,” for the 10,000th time that the light came on for me. “Hey, this isn’t about a real musical instrument at all.” Partial lyrics below for those as slow as myself, though there can’t be many. 'Cause she’s playing all night And the music’s all right Mama’s got a squeeze box Daddy never sleeps at night Well the kids don’t eat And the dog can’t sleep There’s no escape from the music In the whole damn street 'Cause she’s playing all night And the music’s all right Mama’s got a squeeze box Daddy never sleeps at night She goes in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/179 "2009-07-31T19:16:56Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > What’s a metaphor? > > For _cows_, silly! 😕 Please explain. ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/180 "2009-07-31T19:34:38Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Last Friday, my wife realized that the song _Rapture_, by Blondie, was called that because of the rap in the second half of the song. Rap…sure. [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=8) [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=10)