# "Wrylies" in screenplays. Why so hated by actors, etc.?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrylies-in-screenplays-why-so-hated-by-actors-etc/504387>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 27, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrylies-in-screenplays-why-so-hated-by-actors-etc/504387 "2009-07-27T02:54:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrylies-in-screenplays-why-so-hated-by-actors-etc/504387/21 "2015-07-23T01:35:24Z")

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I saw a script by Harlan Ellison, and I did notice one writer’s notice that I’m sure actors had no problem with. One line said something like:

“Dripping with ichor [eye-CORE], he entered the room.”

I’m sure the giving a pronunciation to a potentially unfamiliar word could only help the actor.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrylies-in-screenplays-why-so-hated-by-actors-etc/504387/22 "2015-07-23T01:49:39Z")

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This is interesting: I’m looking at the original script for “Blink” from **Doctor Who** and see plenty of examples of this.

For instance:

> [@Stephen Moffat](#):
>
> SALLY  
> Just a work thing, nothing to  
> worry about.  
> LARRY  
> Okay.  
> SALLY  
> And - …  
> (Flounders)  
> LARRY  
> And what?  
> SALLY  
> (Trying to be casual)  
> She … she loves you.

> [@Stephen Moffat](#):
>
> THE DOCTOR  
> People assume that time is a  
> strict progression of cause to  
> effect, but actually from a nonlinear,  
> non-subjective viewpoint,  
> it’s more like a big ball of  
> wibbley-wobbley, timey-wimey  
> stuff.  
> SALLY  
> Started well, that sentence.  
> THE DOCTOR  
> (Ruefully agreeing)  
> It got away from me, yeah.

> [@Stephen Moffat](#):
>
> BILLY  
> Storming! And that’s Sally … ?  
> SALLY  
> Sally Shipton.  
> (Colours! Oh my God!!)  
> Sparrow. Sally Sparrow. Me, I  
> am. Okay, going now, don’t look  
> at me.

These are sprinkled throughout the screenplay, and in all cases, they seem essential to the story.

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