# What was the most anachronistic thing you've seen in a fictional work that wasn't intentional or an accident? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2021, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956 "2021-11-08T03:28:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**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:** [November 14, 2021, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/161 "2021-11-14T21:31:00Z")
Even weirder (but not anachronistic) is that Carsini was able to untie and undress a corpse, and then get him into a wet suit and the trunk of his car after he’d lain in an overheated cellar for a week. Yeccch! 🤢 When it comes to language, I’m waiting for “Swell!” to make a comeback. As in “Gee, Judy, you’re a swell girl!” or “Sorry you missed the party, Andy. It was swell!” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/162 "2021-11-14T22:29:44Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Anachronistic? Something like this is not anachronistic, as it is incorrect in the time it was filmed. If anything, it’s science fiction. (In The Future, CA will allow 7 characters.) But it’s just a general mistake. Like having a dial tone sound after the other person hangs up (land lines only, for you young folk). ---
**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:** [November 14, 2021, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/163 "2021-11-14T23:33:20Z")
I’ve got to say, a lot of the entries in this thread are very picky minor things that only a specialist would notice. But in that vein, there was an episode of the 1970s TV show Kung Fu in which a deck of tarot cards was shown. Being someone interested in tarot cards at the time I first saw the episode, I noticed that the deck was a Rider deck. The Rider design was first published in 1909, while the show was set in the early 1870s. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/164 "2021-11-14T23:43:06Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > If anything, it’s science fiction. (In The Future, CA will allow 7 characters.) But it’s just a general mistake. It’s not even a mistake. They certainly weren’t going for accuracy and license plates are rarely accurate on tv shows. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/165 "2021-11-15T00:02:21Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Even weirder (but not anachronistic) is that Carsini was able to untie and undress a corpse, and then get him into a wet suit and the trunk of his car after he’d lain in an overheated cellar for a week. Yeccch! - Ladle and a funnel. Easy peasy. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/166 "2021-11-15T02:37:48Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I’m willing to bet that it would take you all day to find a Sherlock Holmes movie where all the dialog is faithful to Victorian England. (Excepting versions set in the present, of course.) The producers of **Deadwood** deliberately used modern profanity in dialogue because period-accurate profanity sounded too weird or comical to modern audiences. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/167 "2021-11-15T02:48:26Z")
This thread’s getting old. See post #92 onward. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/168 "2021-11-15T05:39:56Z")
I use it all the time. either as Clark or Dirty Harry. It it a term with multiple meanings. ---
**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:** [November 15, 2021, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/169 "2021-11-15T07:16:55Z")
“Say” is another expression that should be brought back. People just don’t use it much any more. As in “Say, mister, what’re you sellin’?” and “Say, how many eggs do you want?” (From _ **The Best Years of Our Lives** _ and _ **East of Eden** _, respectively.) ---
**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:** [November 15, 2021, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/170 "2021-11-15T07:28:59Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > > [@RealityChuck](#): > > > > I was amused in _Victor/Victoria_ , they used the phrase “Can you relate to that?”, a phrase that didn’t exist at the time the movie portrayed. > > I have noticed this kind of anachronism _a lot_ lately. Period dramas from the 1980’s and earlier are sprinkled with expressions that sound like Millennial Facebook-isms (to my ears). Back in the '80s, I was watching an episode of that awful _ **Dirty Dozen** _ TV series set during WWII, in which the unit was fighting Fascist cavalry in the Balkans. I switched it off when one of the GIs told his buddy “Man, you were _awesome_ up there on that horse!” ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/171 "2021-11-16T19:22:18Z")
I just started watching the show _Sex Education_ on Netflix after hearing positive things about it. So far I’ve only watched the first two episodes, which I thought were good. But in episode 2 when one of the characters hosted a house party, I thought it was strange that all the music playing at the party was from the 1980s. That doesn’t seem like the sort of music modern teenagers would be playing at a party, unless it was specifically an 80s themed party or something (I don’t think it was, unless I missed something). In fact I vaguely recall the music being discussed in another thread about the show. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/172 "2021-11-17T02:48:36Z")
Basically the only thing the movie got right is that a Scot named William Wallace fought the English. Every single other thing you see and hear on screen is false—the timing of events, the clothing, the weaponry and armor, the biographies, the relationships, everything. Starting with the title: William Wallace wasn’t “Braveheart.” That was Robert the Bruce. Some of the biggest ones: Robert the Bruce wasn’t a traitor to the Scots; William Wallace was a nobleman, not a commoner who lived in a thatched hut; William Wallace never met Isabella of France, much less impregnate her (she would have been a child anyway); Edward I didn’t impose droit de seigneur/jus prima noctae on Scotland. Oh, and Edward I didn’t throw any of his son’s friends out of a window to their deaths. I understand the movie has become somewhat of an icon in Scotland. That would be too bad because it’s kind of reprehensible. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/173 "2021-11-17T03:02:38Z")
It’s also apparently set in an American high school that happens to be full of English people. I imagine that it just appeared like Brigadoon and all the English people just decided to use it and follow all the American customs. > **[This is why Netflix's Sex Education is set in an American high school in the UK](https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/a25884999/why-sex-education-american-high-school-uk/)** > > Why are they all wearing jock jackets? ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/174 "2021-11-17T03:13:35Z")
I was actually wondering if schools in the UK actually had lockers like that. And that was kind of my guess as to why they choose that music; that they were going for music that would appeal to the audience they were hoping to attract rather than accurately depicting what present day high schoolers would actually listen to. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/175 "2021-11-17T08:43:12Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I understand the movie has become somewhat of an icon in Scotland. That would be too bad because it’s kind of reprehensible. It isn’t an icon in Scotland. ---
**Author:** ![Beelzebubbly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Beelzebubbly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beelzebubbly)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/176 "2021-11-17T11:42:59Z")
The problem there is that functional tanks of any kind from that era are rare and _muy expensivo_, so getting enough M47’s and M48’s would simply be out of the question because of the cost. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/177 "2021-11-17T12:53:15Z")
Is this the opposite of anachronistic? This locomotive was dressed up to look older than it really was, with a wood-burning smokestack > **[Sierra Railway 3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_No._3)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Sierra Railway No. 3, often called the "Movie Star locomotive", is a 19th-century steam locomotive owned by the State of California and preserved at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown, California. Former Transportation History curator at the Smithsonian Institution William L. Withhuhn described the locomotive's historical and cultural significance: > Sierra Railway No. 3 has appeared in more motion pictures, documentaries, and televisio... And then it was used in several series, such as Petticoat Junction, set in times when locomotives regularly burned coal. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/178 "2021-11-17T13:08:44Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > Is this the opposite of anachronistic? The opposite of anachronistic is also anachronistic. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2021, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/179 "2021-11-17T13:10:06Z")
> [@Beelzebubbly](#): > > The problem there is that functional tanks of any kind from that era are rare and _muy expensivo_, so getting enough M47’s and M48’s would simply be out of the question because of the cost. I, uh, think you mean Shermans and German tanks. Not an excuse, since tanks like M47s and M48s can easily be disguised with some sheets of plywood. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/180 "2021-11-17T13:49:27Z")
Something I’ve seen more than once is the appearance of floating balloons in movies supposedly set in the Renaissance or the Middle Ages. The only case I can recall right now is the Disney animated version of **Robin Hood** , where Sir Hiss gets a ride on what appears to be a red plastic or rubber balloon: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KeveQtGh9Ws/hqdefault.jpg "Robin Hood Friar Tuck hits Sir Hiss") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeveQtGh9Ws) …thus simultaneously giving us the anachronisms of 1.) Use of plastic or rubber 2.) Use of a balloon 3.) Use of helium. You could argue that they certainly did have bladders that could be inflated, and that they might be using hot air instead of helium, but that would make me lose all respect for you. There is, of course, a similar scene in Shrek, when Shrek and Fiona inflate a frog and a snake. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TEnqFPuCEaA/hqdefault.jpg "Frogs and snakes are just balloons...") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEnqFPuCEaA) I know I’ve seen other examples of Medieval Balloons, but I can’t recall the movies right now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956.md?page=10)