# Stupid errors that crop up repeatedly in TV shows and movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2014, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866 "2014-03-29T23:33:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/401 "2014-06-28T15:52:42Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > [Tanks in the German Army - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer) > > [https://sites.google.com/site/ketilsvendsen/pzf\_flier\_1.jpg](https://sites.google.com/site/ketilsvendsen/pzf_flier_1.jpg) Not sure what those cites are supposed to prove. The first establishes that _Panzer_ can mean “tank” or “armor” and includes a link to _Panzerfaust_ where it clearly states it can mean “armor fist” or “tank fist” (not “armored fist”). The second is a German language pamphlet, which hardly settles the question of translation (although it does include a graphic of a fist smashing a tank, so…). ---
**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:** [June 28, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/402 "2014-06-28T16:00:41Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Not sure what those cites are supposed to prove. The first establishes that _Panzer_ can mean “tank” or “armor” and includes a link to _Panzerfaust_ where it clearly states it can mean “armor fist” or “tank fist” (not “armored fist”). > > The second is a German language pamphlet, which hardly settles the question of translation (although it does include a graphic of a fist smashing a tank, so…). I’ve been writing translations professionally since 1983. “Tank fist” is a shitty translation produced by someone who failed to grasp the dual meaning behind the German word “Panzer.” The manual clearly shows an ARMORED fist smashing a tank. Why the feck would anyone insist on calling it a “tank” fist? Duh! ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/403 "2014-06-28T16:23:30Z")
It’s a fist for smashing tanks. Really “armored fist” doesn’t particularly describe the function of the thing very well; it’s an anti-tank weapon, which “tank fist” gets across pretty clearly. My real point, though, is that your cites are unconvincing. I have no particular investment in this. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/404 "2014-06-30T15:50:10Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > [Tanks in the German Army - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer) > > [https://sites.google.com/site/ketilsvendsen/pzf\_flier\_1.jpg](https://sites.google.com/site/ketilsvendsen/pzf_flier_1.jpg) If you absolutely want to rely on the english version of Wikipedia, why don’t you link to the term itself ([Panzerfaust](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzerfaust))? According to it, both terms (tank-fist and armor-fist) would be literal translations of the word. The other link, while interesting, are simply german fliers about the weapon. Which don’t help when you try to translate the word into english. And which use the direct synonym Panzer = Tank of the “tank-fist” translation: [QUOTE=German flier] Du kannst mit ihr jenden Panzer b is auf Entfernungen von 80 m abschiessen [/quote] [QUOTE=My translation] With it [(the Panzerfaust)] you can shoot tanks at distances of up to 80 m [/quote] ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/405 "2014-06-30T15:54:02Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I’ve been writing translations professionally since 1983. “Tank fist” is a shitty translation produced by someone who failed to grasp the dual meaning behind the German word “Panzer.” > > The manual clearly shows an ARMORED fist smashing a tank. Why the feck would anyone insist on calling it a “tank” fist? Duh! Because the german language is quite literal in many ways: Flugzeug=Plane. The word is formed by two parts which, literally, mean “Thing that flies” Handschuh=Gloves. The word is formed by two parts which, literally, mean “Shoe for the hands” So, if you want to have a literal translation, the one that fits better is “tank fist”, not “armored fist”. It describes the weapon’s main use; with it the “wearer” has a "fist to smash “tanks”. The best translation though? “Bazooka”. ---
**Author:** ![Klytus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Klytus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klytus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/406 "2014-06-30T16:29:02Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > THANK YOU. I rant about this all the time when I see it. Why are you still tending your herb garden? If LE came to me to question me about someone’s murder, even if I didn’t know the person very well, my first response would be “WTF, that nice clerk at the hardware store was murdered? WHAT HAPPENED? OMG! Are you SERIOUS? WOW! I can’t believe it!” Granted, not everyone is as excitable as I am, but murder, that’s a pretty big deal. > > I would also need to take a few moments to absorb the news before I started saying things like “why yes, I was in the hardware store buying a hinge last Tuesday, and I did notice the clerk having a heated discussion with another man, wearing a dark jacket with a baseball cap pulled over his face.” Actually, I would never say that, in addition to being excitable, I am not every observant, so I’d never have any information. But I understand why they don’t need to show that on TV. I’ll second this one. A few months ago, a co-worker of mine was murdered at her home, in front of her kids, but her estranged husband, who then killed himself. Simply _hearing_ about that shook up everyone here at the office, and I was in shock over it for a good couple of weeks. I can only imagine getting the news by having a couple of detectives coming up to me at work or home flashing badges and asking me for as many details as I knew about her and/or anyone who might want to see her dead. Unless you are a sociopath (and therefore, a really good suspect for the crime) no one is going to simply go about their business while answering those kinds of questions under those circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Klytus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Klytus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klytus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/407 "2014-06-30T16:40:13Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Billy Bob Git-fiddle goes into “the studio” to record his boffo tunes and the recording engineer puts him and his guitar in front of ONE MIC. Usually he’s not wearing headphones to monitor the rest of the tracks he’s playing against, and 9 times outta 10 all the other tracks have been recorded ahead of time without him there. > > Catch Phoebe on “Friends” when they go to record “Smelly Cat.” On that note (pun intended) consider _The Blues Brothers_. Here we have a band that has not performed together for 3 years. Yet they pick up right where they left off making good music, without doing _any_ practice or rehearsals first. Even worse, they can do good renditions of songs like\* Rawhide\* and _Stand By Your Man_ when they had **never** performed either of those songs together as a group. Yet they nailed them both on the first try? Plus the many other C&W songs it was implied they did during the cut-scene? Please. ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/408 "2014-06-30T17:03:14Z")
> [@Klytus](#): > > On that note (pun intended) consider _The Blues Brothers_. Here we have a band that has not performed together for 3 years. Yet they pick up right where they left off making good music, without doing _any_ practice or rehearsals first. Even worse, they can do good renditions of songs like\* Rawhide\* and _Stand By Your Man_ when they had **never** performed either of those songs together as a group. Yet they nailed them both on the first try? Plus the many other C&W songs it was implied they did during the cut-scene? Please. Well five of them had been working as Murph and The MagicTones with that swell regular gig at the Armada Room, so they might have worked out “Stand By Your Man” then. Actually, since the MagicTones consisted of the entire rhythm section and one horn, and they had been playing together the whole time, having other pro musicians who had worked with them for years click right in is not as suspicious as you would think. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/409 "2014-06-30T17:14:02Z")
Are you actually complaining that The Blues Brothers is unrealistic? ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/410 "2014-06-30T17:27:47Z")
> [@Klytus](#): > > On that note (pun intended) consider _The Blues Brothers_. Here we have a band that has not performed together for 3 years. Yet they pick up right where they left off making good music, without doing _any_ practice or rehearsals first. Even worse, they can do good renditions of songs like\* Rawhide\* and _Stand By Your Man_ when they had **never** performed either of those songs together as a group. Yet they nailed them both on the first try? Plus the many other C&W songs it was implied they did during the cut-scene? Please. As a veteran of bar bands and having attended more a few open jam nights I can testify that it isn’t that remarkable. Almost anyone who’s played any length of time in motel lounges, bars, Elks lodges and the like will have a pretty good arsenal of country and rock standards, as well as the ability to follow along. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/411 "2014-06-30T19:02:09Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > … You should probably seek some help with the daddy issues there, internet tough guy …said the internet psychiatrist. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/412 "2014-06-30T19:12:04Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Or someone gets shot or injected with poison . . . and dies immediately. Likewise: Deadly diseases that get cured with a vaccine – by vaccinating the sick person! Diseases or poisons that need to be cured or antidoted (to coin a term) within some timeline, and salvation arrives just in the nick of time, averting certain death by mere minutes … with NO side effects or complications. In no time, they’re as good as new! > [@Trinopus](#): > > Is this absolutely never done [fingers at bottom, playing with thumb? Leo Fender (or someone) played bass that way, which is why many Fender basses were sold with a finger rest below the strings rather than the far more sensible thumb rest above it. Here’s a pic: > **[Why thumb rest near the G-string?](http://theguitarmaniac.blogspot.com/2012/07/why-thumb-rest-near-g-string.html)** > > A bit of my shopping experience while I was hunting for the Fast Fret.. When I was in one of the guitar stores looking for a Fast Fret, th... Ignore the blogging idiot’s explanation, though, because these basses predated thumb-n-snap playing styles. Well, maybe his text applies to instruments made in the 70’s or later, but it wouldn’t apply to a '59 Precision bass, where it would be typical. I’ve never seen a musician of note play an electric guitar that way, though. > [@Paul\_H](#): > > Finger on the trigger : Unsafe ? Don’t carry a gun unless YOU ARE SURE that you are willing to fire it at another person . I’ll try to keep that in mind next time I go hunting or to a firing range. > [@Doug\_K](#): > > As a veteran of bar bands and having attended more a few open jam nights I can testify that it isn’t that remarkable. Almost anyone who’s played any length of time in motel lounges, bars, Elks lodges and the like will have a pretty good arsenal of country and rock standards, as well as the ability to follow along. Right, though they generally aren’t such snappy new arrangements. But yes, even fairly ordinary local musicians can pull off a surprisingly large number of standards, cold like that, as long as it’s the “typical” arrangements. I know (and have even got to play with) some top-flight sidemen and it’s really impressive what they can do without rehearsals. In general, if the drummer and bass player have it together and the vocalist knows the words, everyone else can follow along pretty easily. Of course, everyone in the horn section needs to agree whose cover they’re covering. ---
**Author:** ![Klytus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Klytus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klytus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/413 "2014-07-01T01:12:17Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > As a veteran of bar bands and having attended more a few open jam nights I can testify that it isn’t that remarkable. Almost anyone who’s played any length of time in motel lounges, bars, Elks lodges and the like will have a pretty good arsenal of country and rock standards, as well as the ability to follow along. All I can say is that from all the musicians I know, they hate it when they don’t get to practice regularly, especially before big gigs. Because they know if they don’t, they will never sound as good as they would if they did. ---
**Author:** ![Leoj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/58956e/32.png) [@Leoj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leoj)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/414 "2014-07-01T02:15:22Z")
> [@WreckingCrew](#): > > Well five of them had been working as Murph and The MagicTones with that swell regular gig at the Armada Room, so they might have worked out “Stand By Your Man” then. Actually, since the MagicTones consisted of the entire rhythm section and one horn, and they had been playing together the whole time, having other pro musicians who had worked with them for years click right in is not as suspicious as you would think. Plus they were on a mission from God. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/415 "2014-07-01T03:08:35Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > [li] **Computers being able access records which would only be on paper** - Most documents are not online.[/li][/LIST] I’ve never seen anyone in a TV show or movie use a mouse with a computer, and they use the keyboard impossibly fast. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/416 "2014-07-01T03:19:51Z")
> [@DiggitCamara](#): > > So, if you want to have a literal translation, the one that fits better is “tank fist”, not “armored fist”. It describes the weapon’s main use; with it the “wearer” has a "fist to smash “tanks”. > > The best translation though? “Bazooka”. Except the noun “Panzer” itself does not mean tank per se - it’s an abbreviation\* of Panzerkampfwagen, literally “armoured combat vehicle” (or, as a friend once joked, “battle wagon” or “war chariot”, both of which are pretty metäl indeed). The “tank” bit would be “kampfwagen”. In that sense, “Panzer” is very much akin to American soldiers requesting “armor support” on the radio to call in the big fuck-off tanks. - German has a metric ton of those. Which is unsurprising considering the impressive length and unwieldiness their compound nouns can reach. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/417 "2014-07-01T03:39:56Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > (Makes me wonder what would happen if you were standing on it when it did bounce up?) I believe standard procedure is to jump up 400 feet into the air then scatter yourself over a large area. Joke aside : break your leg, before turning you into chunky salsa. The charge propelling the mine upwards was no firecracker since it needed to propel 8 pounds of mine ~4 feet up, and the body of the mine itself was all metal. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/418 "2014-07-02T00:00:36Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Except the noun “Panzer” itself does not mean tank per se - it’s an abbreviation\* of Panzerkampfwagen, literally “armoured combat vehicle” (or, as a friend once joked, “battle wagon” or “war chariot”, both of which are pretty metäl indeed). The “tank” bit would be “kampfwagen”. > > In that sense, “Panzer” is very much akin to American soldiers requesting “armor support” on the radio to call in the big fuck-off tanks. > > - German has a metric ton of those. Which is unsurprising considering the impressive length and unwieldiness their compound nouns can reach. You’re right about the origin of the word “Panzer”. But by the time the Panzerfaust was created ([according to the german Wikipedia](http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzerfaust), around 1942), the term had become synonym to tank and had even replaced it (again, [according to the german Wikipedia](http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer)). You’d be hard pressed to find germans who didn’t understand and prefer the term “Panzer” to designate a tank by now. [/end of my part of this hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/419 "2014-07-02T03:34:08Z")
I’ve always wondered about Nero Wolfe’s hired detective, Saul Panzer. Would anyone in the 1930s be named “Panzer?” (But…if he were…and if I wanted a private eye…I’d sure hire him!) ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/420 "2014-07-02T13:00:20Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Are you actually complaining that The Blues Brothers is unrealistic? Of course! When was the last time you visited someone at a government office without having to wait in a huge line? Totally pulled me out of the film. [(It got an exemption earlier in this thread)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17248613&postcount=197) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866.md?page=22)