# 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:** 96
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1901 "2014-08-03T21:34:48Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I’m a fan of a popular Korean pop girl group, and have been for a few years, but I’ve always been puzzled as to why their fans call themselves, collectively, “Blackjacks”. That just doesn’t make any sense for a band called “2NE1” … oh, wait. During the _Veronica Mars_ kickstarter campaign, Kristen Bell referred to the fans as “marshmallows”. I had never heard this before and thought it was just a random silly endearment. And then I saw it used in a couple of other places and was confused. And then it finally clicked: Veronica **Mars** / **mars** hmallows. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1902 "2014-08-05T11:48:55Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Twenny-One. I would never have gotten that. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1903 "2014-08-05T14:15:44Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > During the _Veronica Mars_ kickstarter campaign, Kristen Bell referred to the fans as “marshmallows”. I had never heard this before and thought it was just a random silly endearment. And then I saw it used in a couple of other places and was confused. And then it finally clicked: Veronica **Mars** / **mars** hmallows. It’s a little more specific than that: [http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/veronica\_mars\_movie\_why\_are\_fans\_called\_marshmallows-2014-02](http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/veronica_mars_movie_why_are_fans_called_marshmallows-2014-02) ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1904 "2014-08-05T15:46:11Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > You got me here. Is it “Audi?” Well not strictly speaking, since AUDI is just an acronym for **A** uto **U** nion **D** eutsche **I** ndustrie. So your AUDI is an indirect descendent of those silver Auto Union racing cars so beloved of Hitler in the 1930’s… ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1905 "2014-08-05T16:16:59Z")
What a thread. Mine is from Star Trek as well. The episode “Doomsday Machine”. Saw the show many, many times during the syndication run and a few since. I’d also seen “The Caine Mutiny” any number of times as well. But I never made the connection between the ball-bearing thing that Queeg did with the fiddling with the “floppy disks” that Decker did until fairly recently. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1906 "2014-08-05T16:22:40Z")
> [@notquitekarpov](#): > > Well not strictly speaking, since AUDI is just an acronym for **A** uto **U** nion **D** eutsche **I** ndustrie. > > So your AUDI is an indirect descendent of those silver Auto Union racing cars so beloved of Hitler in the 1930’s… Although Auto Union is definitely involved, I can’t find much support online for the “Auto Union Decusche Industrie” acronym. According to Wikipedia the name was in use well before Auto Union was formed in 1932. In fact, the four companies which joined forces to form Auto Union (and led to its four-ring logo) were Zschopauer Motorenwerke J. S. Rasmussen (which sold cars under the brand “DKW”), Wanderer, Horch, and Audi. Wikipedia also goes on the say that the Audi name faded from use for some time, but came back rather surreptitiously when Auto Union tried to preserve some of their independence and history after being bought by Volkswagen. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1907 "2014-08-05T16:51:28Z")
In _Groundhog Day_, after Bill Murray’s character bottoms out and goes through the suicide montage, there’s a scene where he’s in the diner, and convinces Andie McDowell that he’s been living the same day over and over for, at this point, must by hundreds or thousands of times, by demonstrating his in-depth knowledge of every single person in the diner - and by implication, the entire town. At the end of that day, McDowell convinces him to use his situation to make himself a better person. He starts off the next day by bringing coffee and donuts to the Groundhog celebration for Andie McDowell and Chris Elliot, and helping carry the camera bags. As he walks off camera, he puts his arm around Chris Elliot’s shoulder, and says something like, “We never talk. Do you have kids?” All those times he’s gone through that day, almost certainly years worth, and this is the first time, ever, he’s talked to his cameraman. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1908 "2014-08-05T21:25:51Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > I would never have gotten that. I _should_ have gotten the “Blackjack” reference a lot sooner than I did. It’s right there in the opening of the group’s debut video: (check the hood ornament on the Rolls) ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1909 "2014-08-06T06:52:34Z")
I had been playing the video game “Nier” and had nearly completed it before I finally realized that"Nier" was the name of the main character. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1910 "2014-08-06T21:47:09Z")
OMG! Kramer’s movie script was called “The Keys” because he left NY for LA because Jerry took away his keys! I always wondered why it was called The Keys! ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1911 "2014-08-08T23:09:29Z")
After a bit of research, I finally get the joke in the title of The Mekons first album, “The Quality of Mercy is not Strnen”…I really need to read more Shakespeare. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1912 "2014-08-09T00:58:38Z")
> [@FUTBOL!](#): > > I recently watched “Mirror, Mirror” for the umpteenth time on youtube. You can’t find it there any more, but you can still watch it on [startrek.com](http://startrek.com). oddly enough it disappeared for copyright reasons after the first time I viewed it. > > What is difficult to miss and almost impossible to forget is part of Earth Empire-Spock’s remarks to “Sulu” upon detecting him spying on him while investigating Kirk’s computer use. After Sulu tries to excuse himself by claiming a routine check whenever an unusually large amount of computer time is used, Spock issues a non-so-veiled threat against his much-distrusted subordinate. (The mistrust is later verified.) Spock points out that if he were eliminated, his associates would avenge his death. Then he adds, with a meaningful tone, that " …some of them are Vulcans." :eek: > > Sulu suddenly looks like he had just wet his pants. 😃 Heh! Not so long ago, I was watching “The Naked Time” for the umpteenth time. Knowing what I know now about George Takei, I found it more than just amusing when the infected Sulu approaches (or, more accurately, comes onto) the guy on the bridge and asks if he’d like to join him for a good workout in the gym (where, no doubt, they’d both get all hot and sweaty…)! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1913 "2014-08-09T01:10:13Z")
> [@Bellhorn](#): > > In the movie **Annie Hall** Alvy and Annie are sitting on a park bench, and Alvy (woody) is making ad lib wisecracks about strangers walking through the plaza. (“Those two guys just got back from Fire Island…” "That guy is definitely Mafia… his business is linens…) > > At one point a small man with white a wide-brimmed hat walks by, and Woody quips, “There goes the winner of the Truman Capote look-a-like contest.” Turns out the guy was actually Truman Capote. > > Seen that 20 times and just found out that piece of minutia last month. > > (Sorry if it’s been mentioned, but I did a search in this thread) This bit was parodied by Stewie and Olivia on _ **Family Guy** _. Never having seen the full movie, I had no idea it was from _ **Annie Hall** _. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1914 "2014-08-09T09:32:33Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I _should_ have gotten the “Blackjack” reference a lot sooner than I did. It’s right there in the opening of the group’s debut video: > > (check the hood ornament on the Rolls) In that video, they repeatedly say “We’re twenny one”, so yeah, it should be obvious from that. But “2NE1” is not twenty one to me. The NE is superfluous, and thus sticking it in makes me want to pronounce it in addition to the 2 and 1. “21” is twenty one. No NE required. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1915 "2014-08-09T14:02:40Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > I just realized that when Butters fakes his death and pretends to be a girl, “her” name is Marge-a-reen. > Margarine. > > Butters. > > :smack: Well it’s “Marjorine” really. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1916 "2014-08-09T22:04:26Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > In that video, they repeatedly say “We’re twenny one”, so yeah, it should be obvious from that. > > But “2NE1” is not twenty one to me. The NE is superfluous, and thus sticking it in makes me want to pronounce it in addition to the 2 and 1. “21” is twenty one. No NE required. Well, like I said, the name was _meant_ to have a dual pronunciation. both “Twenty-One” and “To Anyone”, and a simple “21” wouldn’t reflect that. The group’s second album was titled “To Anyone”. Nevertheless, the “Twenty-One” pronunciation seems to have won out and been embraced by the fans. I’m reminded somewhat of a now-defunct Japanese all-girl rock band called “ZONE”. It was pronounced exactly like it looks, but the meaning of the name was more “Z-One” or “Z to One”. With “Z” being the last letter of the English alphabet, and “One” being #1 on the charts. It was supposed to reflect going from the bottom to the top. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1917 "2014-08-09T22:35:00Z")
On _The Simpsons_ episode “Marge vs. the Monorail,” at a town meeting called to determine how to spend the money given to them when Mr. Burns was fined for dumping toxic waste in a park, A character named, “Mr. Snrub” stood and suggested they invest the money in the power plant. It took many viewing before I recognized that “Snrub” is “Burns” reversed. Not sure why I suddenly recognized it after a dozen misses. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1918 "2014-08-09T23:37:26Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I too was alive in 1958 but too young to remember the first wave of Hula hoops. But while there’s no doubt there was a connection between the name and Hawaii, statehood had nothing to do with it, since it was not to be a state for another year. I would have been too young to pick up on a wave of “Hawaii-cana,” but perhaps it was the anticipation of statehood. If you look at movies from the '30s and '40s, Hawaii popped up fairly often as an exotic locale (hell, Charlie Chan, created in 1919, was from Honolulu). I suspect it became embedded in the American consciousness (along with Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines) after it became a territory in 1898; certainly after James Dole launched his pineapple cannery in the early part of the 20th century, and the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in '41. BTW, I remember when Alaska and Hawaii joined the Union in '59. It was a big deal at the time. I had the _ **Dennis the Menace in Hawaii** _ special edition comic when I was in kindergarten or first grade ('60–'61). ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1919 "2014-08-10T05:27:00Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > On _The Simpsons_ episode “Marge vs. the Monorail,” at a town meeting called to determine how to spend the money given to them when Mr. Burns was fined for dumping toxic waste in a park, A character named, “Mr. Snrub” stood and suggested they invest the money in the power plant. It took many viewing before I recognized that “Snrub” is “Burns” reversed. Not sure why I suddenly recognized it after a dozen misses. I didn’t realize that until just now. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1920 "2014-08-10T06:41:10Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I too was alive in 1958 but too young to remember the first wave of Hula hoops. But while there’s no doubt there was a connection between the name and Hawaii, statehood had nothing to do with it, since it was not to be a state for another year. I would have been too young to pick up on a wave of “Hawaii-cana,” but perhaps it was the anticipation of statehood. Plus – and I know this is a nitpick – but for Hawaii to have been a state “for more than 20 years” would put one in the 1980s, not 1970s. I was just reading _Jet Age: The Comet, the 707, and the Race to Shrink the World_ by Sam Howe Verhovek and he pointed out that travel to Hawaii exploded with the first commercial jet flights to the islands in 1959. Jets reduced the travel time between Hawaii and the continental United States from five days to five hours. Tourism to Hawaii increased tenfold within a decade. [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=95) [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=97)