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Waddabout a simple recognition that popular sci fi has had a great influence on all our lives. Daily we see references to famous (and not so famous) sci fi shows with additions to our language or culture.
I thought it might be cool to start a thread of as many of them as we could think of… and I’ll start off:
“Beam me up scotty” from Star Trek (used when we really don’t want to be somewhere).
or how about the word “Smeg” from Red Dwarf (used to mean a very icky, slimey substance that we wouldn’t like to come in contact with). I don’t think it’s used very much outside the United Kingdom (except in Italy where it is a popular range of kitchen appliances
)
Do you know of any others?
[ 06-03-2002: Message edited by: SadGeezer ]
I’ve seen the phrase “war of the worlds” used in any number of editorials describing conflicts between nations and cultures. And there’s “May the Force be with you”, which is used with a nudge and a wink, and often paraphrased to incorporate other words (as in, “May the farce be with you”, heh heh).
There’s a tale in scientific circles (possibly apocryphal) that Arthur C. Clarke was the one who thought up geosynchronous satellites in one of his stories, and that’s where rocket scientists got the idea. I tend to think it might be true, since during WWII, he was questioned by the FBI about a story he wrote that described the atomic bomb in close detail (before those details were ever made public).
Scifi writers have always been prescient. It’s hard to say how many budding young scientists have been sparked to discover new things by fantastic stories they might have read. For certain, it’s made me believe that if we can dream it up, we can eventually find a way to make it work.
It doesent directly relate but….
Did you know NASA adopted the name Enterprise for their space program based on Star Trek?
Very interesting the way fiction influences history so directly.
it has been brought up many times before as to how much our space program was influenced by Star Trek and scifi shows and fiction. look at our cell phones, i have seen many of them that very closely resemble the communicators on ST. and according to an article posted on this BB(i am not sure where, but i am sure someone remembers where it is ) that some researchers have come up with a device that acts as a medical tricorder. this device will be useful for helping patients that can’t be monitored through conventional means. for example, severe burn patients, who cannot have electrodes attached to their bodies to monitor their heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, etc…
sorry to get slightly off topic. quote:
Originally posted by dgrequeen:
There’s a tale in scientific circles (possibly apocryphal) that Arthur C. Clarke was the one who thought up geosynchronous satellites in one of his stories, and that’s where rocket scientists got the idea. I tend to think it might be true, since during WWII, he was questioned by the FBI about a story he wrote that described the atomic bomb in close detail (before those details were ever made public).
Well, it just so happens that my father is an expert in atomic bomb history. I asked him if this was true, but he couldn’t recall reading about anything like that. There was one instance where an article was published in Time or Life (or some such news magazine) that described the theory of an atomic bomb. [This was during WWII.] That incident caused alot of worry behind closed doors, but nothing came of it.
But my dad asked me, “Isn’t he a British author?” I said, “Yes and later he moved to Sri Lanka.” This made him doubt that the FBI would question him. Maybe he was questioned by the British government?
It’s a story I haven’t heard before, that’s for sure.
[ 06-03-2002: Message edited by: Flamegrape ]
in relation to cars:
“i took off at warp speed from them traffic lights!”
“couldn’t you get here any faster?”-“what do you think i drive, a bloody tardis????”
(perhaps not everyone uses these, but everyone would know what you meant)
(the company that my partner works for was asked to do a quote for some work out in Sri Lanka, for a group financed by arther c. clarke. not heard anything, but if anything ever does come of it, i’ll see if i can get some info from the man himself!!!)
Not entirely related to the topic, but Star Trek has spawned quite a few inventions.
I can’t imagine the warp field being in any scientists thinking back in the 60’s, yet it seems GR’s thinking may be reality after all.
Warp field dynamics are being considered by Nasa’a propulsion labs as an alternative to liquid fuel space travel, one scientist has even published a theoretical paper on how to acheive it, although it may take many years to put into practice, it just goes to show how sci-fi like Star Trek can influence science.
Squishy 
Used around the house: [Star Trek]”He’s dead Jim” referring to something gone, a joke that didn’t fly, or something that is just plain sad in it’s ending. (like moldy jello)
[Red Dwarf]”Too slow chicken marango”- when I’m not fast enough at getting the remote.
[Dr. Who]”Reverse the polarity of the nuetron flow”- to get something to work and it fails.
[LEXX]”The dead do not…” -put anything you don’t want to do at the end of that sentance.
[LEXX]”I’m hungry Stanley, I want something to eat”-whenever I start scrounging around for food and I’m finding nothing. I even use the appropriate voice/accent.
But my dad asked me, “Isn’t he a British author?” I said, “Yes and later he moved to Sri Lanka.” This made him doubt that the FBI would question him. Maybe he was questioned by the British government?
This was a story told by Clarke himself in the preface of one of his books, and also mentioned by Isaac Asimov in a discussion about this very topic (which is why I thought it might be true). At the time the FBI came knocking on his door, he was living in Manhattan. He didn’t move to Sri Lanka until the mid 50’s.
[ 07-03-2002: Message edited by: dgrequeen ]
quote:
Originally posted by dgrequeen:
But my dad asked me, “Isn’t he a British author?” I said, “Yes and later he moved to Sri Lanka.” This made him doubt that the FBI would question him. Maybe he was questioned by the British government?This was a story told by Clarke himself in the preface of one of his books, and also mentioned by Isaac Asimov in a discussion about this very topic. At the time the FBI came knocking on his door, he was living in Manhattan. He didn’t move to Sri Lanka until the mid 50’s.
That’s really interesting! Can you tell me which book that preface appears? I just might have it. My father would be very interested in such anecdotes.
quote:
Originally posted by Praxilla:
Used around the house: [Star Trek]”He’s dead Jim” referring to something gone, a joke that didn’t fly, or something that is just plain sad in it’s ending. (like moldy jello)[Red Dwarf]”Too slow chicken marango”- when I’m not fast enough at getting the remote.
[Dr. Who]”Reverse the polarity of the nuetron flow”- to get something to work and it fails.
[LEXX]”The dead do not…” -put anything you don’t want to do at the end of that sentance.
[LEXX]”I’m hungry Stanley, I want something to eat”-whenever I start scrounging around for food and I’m finding nothing. I even use the appropriate voice/accent.
[Star Wars]”I have a bad feeling about this.” -times when this line comes up can be divided into “midterms” and “finals.”
[Aliens]”That’s it, man. Game over, man. Game over!” -see above.
[Doctor Who]”Please don’t do that.” -when someon e is doing something annoying; in mock-British accent.
[The Instrumentality of Mankind]”Ee-tellykelly!” -expression of grief, or general shock.
[A Clockwork Orange]”Oh, my brothers and only friends…” -when addressing a group.
[Lexx]”How peculiar.” -when something is unusual; in mock-German accent.
[Lexx]”The wheel doth turn!” -meaningless phrase.
i don’t know about anywhere else, but martial arts have become popular again here in britland (especially with kids). i’m seeing a lot more clubs offering training in the different arts than perhaps a few years ago. i cannot help but think the demand has come from people wanting to be like buffy, xena or hercules
quote:
Originally posted by Snooklepie:
i don’t know about anywhere else, but martial arts have become popular again here in britland (especially with kids). i’m seeing a lot more clubs offering training in the different arts than perhaps a few years ago. i cannot help but think the demand has come from people wanting to be like buffy, xena or hercules
Martial arts has been big lately, but I think Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers would have had a more significant influence on kids than those shows.
quote:
Originally posted by snooklepie:
i don’t know about anywhere else, but martial arts have become popular again here in britland (especially with kids). i’m seeing a lot more clubs offering training in the different arts than perhaps a few years ago. i cannot help but think the demand has come from people wanting to be like buffy, xena or hercules
Jackie Chan
D’OH! How could we forget! (if we haven’t then whew!)
Danger, Will Robinson, Danger! (Lost in Space)
ok, so i didn’t think of jackie chan, etc…so if the likes of xena, etc aren’t directly responsible for the popularity of martial arts these days then they’re certainly responsible for keeping the arts in the public eye- you think about it, most jackie chan films probably aren’t suitable for kids, & the turtles were made into soup and various other nauseating trinkets long ago. if there was nothing to keep the youngster’s interest, then perhaps the arts wouldn’t be as popular as they still are.
lol That’s so true
When the neighbors kids saw my husband ,Duane, working on his Kempo outside one day, he found a following, now every single one of them collects around the yard every day to watch him !
Also, for the record, a LOT of Jackie’s newer films are good for 10 and up, because he always plays virtuous people who try not to seriously hurt or kill anyone. Also ,my little ones love his childeren’s cartoon, Jackie Chan adventures…and how many of us have gone into ‘smug mode’ when we’ve been proven right about something? would Hammond organ music be such a joke if it didn’t form part of Rimmer’s record collection?
….Jackie Chan cartoons????I forgot put one in. I was thinking I just made it up based on Lexx, but I just noticed that the line is actually spoken in I Worship His Shadow:
“Don’t hurt me, Divine Shadow!” (Lexx)
Every time I have Fish for dinner I can’t help say, “I’m gonna eat you little fishy.” (Cat from Red Dwarf).
Also doubles as a great chatup line huh?!
Sci-Fi Pick-Up Lines
“Are you an Angel?” –Star Wars
“Please sit and entertain me.” –Star Trek
“I am the Master and you will obey me.” –Doctor Who
“She is one.” –The X-Files
“Such sweet shapes!” –Lexx
“You’ve been in my life so long I can’t remember anything else.” –Alien
“I’m gonna get you, little kitty.” –Red Dwarf
“You remind me of the babe…” –[/i]Labyrinth[/i] Okay, now I’m dipping into fantasy, I better stop.
I can only remember one, which was cool at the time, the catchphrase from the original Highlander…’There can be only one’.
Squishyhow about the classic “is this guy boring you? i’m from another planet!”-hitch hikers…(ok, so it’s probably not exactly that, but it has been years since i saw it!!)
then we have the one for use when you know you’ve made a complete testicular levitation (as my old biology teacher used to put it!) of something-
“twist my nipple nuts and send me to alaska!!”- red dwarf
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