# That character would NEVER say that! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 18, 2020, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080 "2020-04-18T20:22:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/121 "2020-04-23T04:55:37Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > It’s full of references to 20th century pop culture. The lowest moment (in my humble opinion) was using Dolly (Yeccch! :mad: ) Parton as a feminist icon. > > [The Orville - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Orville) Is your objection to her in general or an association with feminism? Because I can’t fault her in general. > [@digs](#): > > You can’t just write this without telling us! Nissan - American: knee-sahn. Nissan - UK: nye-sæn. As in **san** itizer. Mazda - American: mahh-z-da. Mazda - UK: mazz-da. As in uhh… razz with an M? Mazzy Star? Japanese (or I guess ancient Persian in a sense) is basically the American pronunciation, though there may be small differences in vowel length. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/122 "2020-04-23T05:20:49Z")
Any time a pre-gunpowder era archer character is ordered to or talks about “firing” arrows. _[Return of the King](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_BK-kuQ-Fo&feature=youtu.be&t=22s)_ has an example; “fire a warning shot past the bosun’s ear”. “Firing” a missile weapon is a term derived from firearms; a pre-gunpowder archer would have “shot” or “loosed” their arrows, not fired them. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/123 "2020-04-23T06:42:38Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I didn’t really watch the show, but I read on some language blog or other that _Mad Men_, famously set in the 1950s, would occasionally mention the “CFO” of one company or another. > > “Chief financial officer” as a job title didn’t really exist in the 50s. It only started being used in the late 1960s, at least according to said blog. At the time of _Mad Men_, the person in charge of a company’s finances would be called the treasurer, the financial manager, or perhaps the comptroller. I’m pretty sure no one ever used the phrase “chief financial officer” on the show. Lane once referred to himself as “financial chief” in 1966 though, which seems much more innocuous. The term “CFO” was used a grand total of one time in 1965. If you read the same blog I just did, they note there was an ad for a “chief financial officer” in a 1963 newspaper so certainly by the early 60s it was a recognized title. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/124 "2020-04-23T07:00:10Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > [Here’s more on the issue.](https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/columns/intelligencer/n_10191/) > > David Milch, the creator of Deadwood, disputes Sheidlower, but I would tend to trust an editor of the OED over a TV producer. EB: Some ancient Italian maxim fits our situation, whose particulars escape me. Wolcott: Is the gist that I’m shit out of luck? EB: Did they speak that way then? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/125 "2020-04-23T07:05:46Z")
I once saw Benny Hill play a Confederate soldier. It was a comedy sketch, so I didn’t mind the way he mangled a Southern accent. But the sketch had “Battle Hymn of the Republic” playing in the background! :eek: :mad: Would you have Cavaliers singing a Roundhead anthem? ---
**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:** [April 23, 2020, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/126 "2020-04-23T07:16:35Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > That cite only leads to the general wiki page for that show?😕 Try this site instead. Search for “pop culture references” and “The Orville.” ---
**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:** [April 23, 2020, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/127 "2020-04-23T07:18:09Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Is your objection to her in general or an association with feminism? I make no secret of my loathing for her awful music. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/128 "2020-04-23T08:33:24Z")
Personally I had no problem with their using **9 to 5** ; to me it worked. I don’t have a problem with their referring to 20th and 21st century pop culture because otherwise I would either sit there perplexed wondering who on Earth Xrg Flurknoogl is and why his trying to surf on Xolltah 6 is so funny or wondering if Big Jim Mollencrow aka Fingers was someone from now that I should know. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/129 "2020-04-23T11:57:38Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Try this site instead. Search for “pop culture references” and “The Orville.” You’re, uh, you’re new at this whole “providing a link” thing, aren’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/130 "2020-04-23T12:00:59Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > Personally I had no problem with their using **9 to 5** ; to me it worked. I don’t have a problem with their referring to 20th and 21st century pop culture because otherwise I would either sit there perplexed wondering who on Earth Xrg Flurknoogl is and why his trying to surf on Xolltah 6 is so funny or wondering if Big Jim Mollencrow aka Fingers was someone from now that I should know. Shows (and novels) like **The Expanse** do a spectacular job of creating new culture, including new musical genres and the like. When an artist can manage this, it’s just delightful. And the very occasional reference to the 20th or 21st century is okay, as long as it’s about as common as we’d reference Da Vinci or Cervantes. But when most of the world’s culture is steeped in the half-century surrounding the work’s creation, or when incredibly minor things (Leeroy Jenkins!) are referenced 400 years later, man, that’s just dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/131 "2020-04-23T15:39:27Z")
Gah, I totally forgot about _Back to the Future_. Disregard my last post. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/132 "2020-04-23T20:10:55Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > I live a good couple of hundred miles north of London, and would therefore travel “down to London”. Historically, however, one wouldn’t have. One always travelled “up” to the capital, regardless of compass points. Although apparently there was _one_ “up train” from London: the one to Oxford. > > It was an Oxford chap who told me that though, so I don’t know if I was simply missing an obvious local-pride joke…but he was posh enough to know such things and appeared serious. > > University was routinely “up” in the past too. But then London was up from there. Except for Oxford University, possibly, if my mate Nick is to be believed. > > So. Anyway…perhaps there was a hint of “capital is up” over there for a while too? I’m pretty sure no one ever in Chicago referred to traveling “up to Springfield.” I’ve always assumed that the screenwriters of Call Northside 777 were from Los Angeles or New York. In both cases the state capital is north of the city. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/133 "2020-04-24T02:06:30Z")
I do not think that a starship captain would say, “_When he flips that switch, all the sounds in the ship will be amplified by a factor of one to the fourth power._” To become a starship captain, one has to learn and comprehend things, and math is almost certainly one of them. Similarly, a commander would not say, “_Take us to a stationary orbit over the south pole._” A real stationary orbit is equatorial, at a specific altitude. I mean, I can accept that those magic ships could remain in position over the south pole of a body, but no self-respecting command-level officer would refer to it as an orbit. And, “_We’re stopped dead in space._” Who would say that, and what does it even mean? ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/134 "2020-04-24T03:47:12Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I do not think that a starship captain would say, “_When he flips that switch, all the sounds in the ship will be amplified by a factor of one to the fourth power._” Hey, I’ve got a switch just like that in my house! ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/135 "2020-04-24T09:06:02Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Hey, I’ve got a switch just like that in my house! Please stop flipping it. You’re driving my dog crazy ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/136 "2020-04-24T10:55:34Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Nissan - UK: nye-sæn. As in **san** itizer. What’s your ‘nye’ as in? I’ve only ever heard as ‘Ni’, pretty much as in ‘knights who say’ in Britain… ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/137 "2020-04-24T17:07:55Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > What’s your ‘nye’ as in? I’ve only ever heard as ‘Ni’, pretty much as in ‘knights who say’ in Britain… Sorry, screwed that up, but neither are right. It’s I think the i in “bit” sound. /ɪ/ if my IPA is right. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080/138 "2020-04-24T18:19:16Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Sorry, screwed that up, but neither are right. It’s I think the i in “bit” sound. /ɪ/ if my IPA is right. Aye. Niss as in Miss, An as in An. You can see how we get to Nissan rather than NeeSahn. Maybe we should have been instructed to say NeeSahn but, if so, that memo appears to be meessing in ahction. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-character-would-never-say-that/852080.md?page=6)