h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Have you heard of "Gap-italisation".

The sad part is that these big Corps with Sweet shops (or is that sweat shops you decide) are probably not the ones making the really big $$ from the developing world. Try the big mining companies, oil companies, computer companies, construction companies, real estate companies etc..

I am on the space elevator to the moon what floor are you stopping on?

I also think Andy Warlocks phrase about 15 minutes of fame belongs here. But what about Frankenstein that is a bit of a term, does that belong here?

Xanatic, you are a genius. Frankenstein definitely belongs in this thread. (Incidentally, has anyone noticed how lifts are developing personalities these days?)

I hadn't heard of Gap-itilisation, but I had heard of Coca-colonisation.

agcB

If Frankenstein gets in, then maybe you should think about the phrase " a Jekyll and Hyde kind of character"?

Definitely.

Keep 'em rolling, I feel a guide entry coming on...!

agcB

If we're talking about personality types, 'Walter Mitty personality' is fairly often used by journalists (or lawyers) to describe odd individuals appearing as defendants in court.

Thinking about that, I suppose that after journalists, lawyers and politicians are possibly the next most common (over)users of phrases, particularly when they're trying to appear one of the common people.

And journalists and politicians are the most Walter Mitty type of characters!

agcB

I suppose "spam" is a word/concept for unwanted e-mails which we are all familiar with now. It allegedly came from a cafe in a Monty Python TV series which seemed to serve mostly spam whether the customer liked it or not. That must qualify as fiction.

Does that count?

spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam!!

......Spam is, sadly, a real product. I is like Pork Luncheon Meat but worse....

But using the word spam to mean junk email.... that probably does come from the sketch (which I remember very well).

Almost counts, I reckon.

But if that counts, what about the history of the word "Quark" which was based on the poem by Lewis Carol called "The Hunting of the Snark". Why Snark became Quark is unclear to me.

Lewis Carole invented that very useful word the "wabe" which is the grass surrounding a sundial. I actually own a sundial, and it is important to me when I finally buy my own place, that there should be a wabe for the Sundial to sit in.

Keep 'em rolling!

agc

Spam straight from the can, in sandwiches or the like is indeed rather dire. However, grilled or fried slices (non-stick pan, little or no oil), it can be a tasty snack, and an adequate storable bacon replacement when you want something crisp, meaty and salty.

I used to fry it in a tiny camping pan, with coke splashed over it to make a very low-class version of honey-roast ham. It made great sandwiches after a cold, wet walk, though.

You'll find the connection between spam on the net and Monty Python in this entry http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A184088.

BBS

And indeed dear old Ike's ubiquitous Three Laws of Robotics.

How about describing someone as anal? It stems from Freud's analysis of the psyche.

Hmm - I guess that may be partly restricted to people who had heard about Freud, and don't think he was full of s**t himself.

I suppose 'Scrooge' is a pretty widespread, if not overused term in media/political circles.

Heh Heh, Potholer. I like the Scrooge one.

Anal - Freud was actually presenting his ideas in a work of non-fiction (hush, Potholer). My original question was about memes which started life in works of fiction. Thanks for the suggestion, I mulled it over for a while.

agcB

Ditto scrooge.

How about Smeg from red Dwarf? It seems to have pervaded the public consciousness, or was that just me being educated in a boys school during the last decade

Quark: Was named by the physicist Murray Gell-Mann in 1963, from a passage in James Joyce's 'Finnegans Wake' which refered to the sound sea birds make. Quark is pronounced 'quork', and in the mind of Prof. Gell-Mann, was a play on the word quart, which refered to the four quarks then (theoretically) discovered.

Can I lie down now, Ben?

Anytime djs!

agcB

I'm sure smeg predates Red Dwarf.

I guess I should have stuck a in my Freud reply...