# The mind-boggling movie quote? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 19, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608 "2005-05-19T17:51:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/21 "2005-05-19T20:45:23Z")
Shit. Now my life has no purpose. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/22 "2005-05-19T20:50:55Z")
What is odd is that that “confirmation” is from Dec. 2003, and yet this dialogue about the origins of this phrase continues on the internet… which makes me think that this suggestion didn’t really pan out. Surely everyone interested in this would know by now if it really came from Hitchhiker’s Guide. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/23 "2005-05-19T20:54:51Z")
I’m pretty sure it is from hitchhikers guide, as soon as I saw post #19 it popped into my head and I heard the guy on the audio book saying it (i’m too lazy to read, so sue me! :)). I’m trying to remember what they are talking about but can’t. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/24 "2005-05-19T21:06:18Z")
This is infuriating. I have a specific memory (or so I think) of this being spoken aloud somewhere. I read the Hitchhikers Guide, haven’t seen the film. Alright. I have the vague idea that it’s describing some sort of scheme or product–but that’s not that helpful. Crap. Sorry I even brought it up. (subscribing to thread so as not to go insane) ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/25 "2005-05-19T21:11:52Z")
I have my copy of Hitchhiker’s Guide handy. I’ll read through tonight and see if I can find it. For whatever reason, I feel very strongly that it’s in there. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/26 "2005-05-19T21:13:55Z")
Note that the person claiming to have found it was referring to the DVD of the early '80s British miniseries. ---
**Author:** ![Burnt\_Sugar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@Burnt\_Sugar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Sugar)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/27 "2005-05-19T21:15:23Z")
It _does_ sound very hitchhiker-y. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/28 "2005-05-19T21:17:18Z")
> [@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker](#): > > Note that the person claiming to have found it was referring to the DVD of the early '80s British miniseries. Perhaps but wasn’t that T.V. series very faithful to the original text? They started showing the series again on T.V. at the time the movie was released over here and it seems to be word for word identical to the books, which I did eventually read, the first two anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/29 "2005-05-19T21:29:38Z")
Dont confuse it with the quote here; [http://gatherer.wizards.com/gathererlookup.asp?set=Weatherlight&name=null\_rod](http://gatherer.wizards.com/gathererlookup.asp?set=Weatherlight&name=null_rod) ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/30 "2005-05-19T21:32:21Z")
A friend and I agree it’s Douglas Adams. He says, however, that it’s _not_ in HHGTTG. It’s in one of the later books – perhaps _Restaurant_? ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/31 "2005-05-19T21:37:26Z")
I don’t think it’s in the Dirk Gently books; I read 'em within the last year and can’t really place them in there. The quote in my head has a British accent… ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/32 "2005-05-19T23:49:56Z")
Aparantly there’s a reissue of the HG2TG trilogy that has it, but it dates from only a year or so ago. Too many links to scroll thru now, tho. If it is a real quote, and not a combination of several quotes, then we need to look pretty far back into classic movies or older literature. We’re not going to find the original in anything recent. If someone does, it’s there because of this conundrum in the first place, I would wager. Look, if thousands of people, using several different methods of search on the net can’t find it, that tells me it’s not on the net, except in the form of this question. Won’t stop me from trying, tho. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/33 "2005-05-19T23:53:51Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Aparantly there’s a reissue of the HG2TG trilogy that has it, but it dates from only a year or so ago. Too many links to scroll thru now, tho. > > . No, I don’t have it. This came up a couple of months ago on some other board and I never checked to be sure. Either way, it doesn’t fit the original problem of where the quote originated. **Samclem**? **Bibliophage**? Others well versed in word/phrase origins? ---
**Author:** ![galt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/34 "2005-05-19T23:58:18Z")
I notice _The Hudsucker Proxy_ isn’t on the list in the linked IMDB thread. Could that be it? ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/35 "2005-05-20T00:04:48Z")
I’ve been trying to find the answer to this one all night and have come to the personal conclusion that it isn’t in any film, or at least that isn’t where it originated. I find it hard to believe that so many people can recongnize a quote, indicating that it must be from something incredibly popular, but not one of them can name it. Sounds to me like it is a phrase that has come into common usage and people just assumed it must be from a film. That’s my story and i’m sticking to it dag-nammit, for the sake of my own sanity. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/36 "2005-05-20T00:06:54Z")
> [@galt](#): > > I notice _The Hudsucker Proxy_ isn’t on the list in the linked IMDB thread. Could that be it? If you’re thinking it was said in relation to Tim Robbins’ invention I don’t think that’s right. IIRC when asked about the drawing he always replied, “You know, for kids.” ---
**Author:** ![hermann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b487fb/32.png) [@hermann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hermann)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/37 "2005-05-20T01:49:12Z")
Well, I’m hooked. I could swear it sounds so familiar…just can’t place it. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/38 "2005-05-20T04:35:48Z")
Is it just me, or does the Hitchhiker’s Guide trilogy have lots of various editions with different words? For instance, on every printed edition of the first book I’ve read, it says something like “The guide says that if you take a lungful of air you can survive in the vacuum of space for thirty seconds.” And that always bugged me, since that’s supposed to be a good way to ensure your death by embolism. But on the audio book I just listened to, Douglas Adams says “The guide says that if you hyperventilate and then empty your lungs, you can survive in the vacuum of space for thirty seconds.” A much more accurate quote. So maybe the “That’s the beauty of it, it doesn’t _do_ anything” quote exists only in some particular edition of the HHGTTG trilogy … Hmmmm, I see **NoClueBoy** says that’s true. But that doesn’t explain why so many people find the quote familiar… ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/39 "2005-05-20T05:18:53Z")
Dr. WHO, with Tom Baker as the Doctor. Don’t know the episode, but he and his companion were collecting fragments of some quasi-crystaline thingamajiggy (one of the fragments was a giant squid…the inhabitants of the swamp-world who worshiped the squid called the outsiders invading their world “dry-foots” :dubious: ) While the Doctor was assembling it, the companion asked" What does it do?" He replied " it dosent do anything, it just is." Maybe some resident Whovian can expand on my 25 year old shoddy memory? BTW, shouldn’t this be in Cafe Society? ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608/40 "2005-05-20T06:01:11Z")
It would be great if the quote happened to be from that literary work which inspired Dorothy Parker to declare: “This is not a book to be tossed aside lightly. It should be hurled with great force.” I can’t find the thread now, but the attempt to track down the origin of _that_ quote drove the Teeming Millions mad a while back… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mind-boggling-movie-quote/304608.md?page=3)