124
votes
Accepted
What term is being referred to with "reflected-sound-of-underground-spirits"?
The word is "echo-gnomics" ("economics")
An echo is a reflected sound; gnomes live underground.
Etymologically, "gnomes" [mythology] are described as "a legendary race of human-like beings, usually ...
- 138k
85
votes
Accepted
Why would a ship-launching woman need to resemble a champagne bottle?
I think you've understood the joke but missed the reference.
Under Patrician Quimby poetic metaphor was forbidden. The narrator is pointing out that nobody's face literally launched a thousand ships (...
- 709k
78
votes
What term is being referred to with "reflected-sound-of-underground-spirits"?
Rincewind tries his hand at a better translation later in the book (emphasis added):
Bloody hell, he thought. He’s alive! Me too. Who’d have thought it? Perhaps there is something in this reflected-...
- 709k
52
votes
Orc calls elves "filth?"
In the appendices, Tolkien actually addresses this himself:
“But Orcs and Trolls spoke as they would, without love of words or things; and their language was actually more degraded and filthy than I ...
- 9,047
40
votes
Accepted
What is a "shilicashe?"
The word Cohen is trying to say is "Silicate;" a common mineral in many forms of rock.
Common silicates include quartz (silicon dioxide) and granite (a combination of 3 different types of silicates: ...
- 138k
37
votes
Accepted
What does this line mean in the Watchmen movie?
Rorschach is saying he's not surprised Dr. Manhattan is on Veidt's side, and resigning himself to his fate by keeping to his beliefs.
Here's the corresponding scene from the graphic novel:
Rorschach ...
- 16.4k
32
votes
Why does Agent Smith refer to himself as "a" Smith, as though there are multiple Smiths?
In this YouTube clip of the scene (mentioned by Peter in a comment), you can see that after their initial flurry of blows, Morpheus has Smith pinned down on the floor. Morpheus is on top of Smith, and ...
- 929
28
votes
Orc calls elves "filth?"
It may just be translated by tone
One of our only examples of actual black speech is Grishnákh's curse "Uglúk u bagronk sha pushdug Saruman-glob búbhosh skai"
He stooped over Pippin, ...
- 95.7k
27
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Why is Sam unsure about whether or not he has taken out the Elf-rope before in chapter 12 of Two Towers?
Yes, you are misreading. The operative part is "Never noticed it before." Sam is reasoning that if he had taken it out, and if at the time it were dark, he would remember its looking silver. ...
- 3,872
27
votes
Why is Sam unsure about whether or not he has taken out the Elf-rope before in chapter 12 of Two Towers?
"Can't remember as [something occurred]" is a colloquial version of "can't remember that [something occurred]". It expresses that the speaker thinks the thing didn't happen, rather ...
- 271
25
votes
Why does Agent Smith refer to himself as "a" Smith, as though there are multiple Smiths?
The Shooting Script in The Art of the Matrix (Scene 117, "Int. Room 608 - Day") provides some additional evidence for the ~mis-enunciation hypothesis:
AGENT SMITH
The great Morpheus. We ...
- 1,812
24
votes
Accepted
What does The Doctor mean by "Hello" in "The beast below"?
You are overthinking it; it's him being something between dramatic and silly.
Basically, he's saying the outcome of the actions long ago is...well, he's here now, so "Hello."
I.e.,
"...
- 59.4k
23
votes
Accepted
What does 0.2 tenths of the population mean?
The Gregory Zilboorg translation renders that line as "0.2" or "two tenths" of the population that did not die out, which suggests that the original text may have said as much.
(...
- 233k
22
votes
Accepted
What did Trinity mean by this line in The Matrix Reloaded?
It's almost certainly a callback to the climax of the first film, in which Neo's heart flatlined after he was shot by Agent Smith within the Matrix, and Trinity revived him with a softly-spoken speech ...
- 128k
21
votes
Accepted
What does just "on" mean as a response to "where would it take me"?
Adding a bit of context, Harry died by Voldemort's hand, and awoke in a state of Limbo, in a place that resembled King's Cross Station:
In 1998, during the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry Potter allowed ...
- 233k
20
votes
Accepted
Unclear meaning of introductory blurb to "Neutron Star"
It is your first guess. As people like to point out, the tidal forces during Shaeffers approach to the neutron star would not be surviveable.
The closest to the center of BVS-1 that Beowulf ...
- 18.7k
18
votes
Accepted
What does this phrase from Ursula Le Guin's book "The Lathe of Heaven" mean?
This is a world in which drug use is ubiquitous. The irony being that while the counsellor says that his goal is to help Orr off of drugs, literally his first action is to offer him more drugs
"O. ...
- 709k
17
votes
Accepted
What does Amy mean by "washing up"?
It's a joke. The Doctor is saying that he wants Amy and Rory to stop travelling with him and get on with their lives before they come to a sticky end like many of his previous companions.
Amy replies &...
- 46.3k
17
votes
Why is Sam unsure about whether or not he has taken out the Elf-rope before in chapter 12 of Two Towers?
Your confusion would be reasonable if Sam said he wasn't sure whether he had used or deliberately examined the rope before, but that is not what he says. Instead, he says he's not sure if the rope has ...
- 2,262
16
votes
What does The Doctor mean by "Hello" in "The beast below"?
As K-H-W said I think he's pointing to the fact that his running away from Gallifrey was how he ended up being the explorer of space and time that Amy knew him as, if he hadn't run away he just would ...
- 57.1k
13
votes
Did Louis Tully's speech mean anything?
I think the point of that monologue was to convey a sense of scale to the supernatural world in this universe. As well-versed in the occult as the Ghostbusters (especially Egon) are, it's clear that ...
- 131
11
votes
Accepted
What does Shagrat mean by "Hola"?
In this case, 'Hola!' is not used as a Spanish word. It's a slang word; just as how 'Heyo' and 'Ello' are slang words, 'Hola' in this case is also one. It is simply derived from the English words (in ...
- 26.4k
11
votes
What does The Doctor mean by "Hello" in "The beast below"?
He means that him being there, on the city carried on the space whale with Amy is the direct result of him running away. His saying "hello" to answer Amy's question is to basically to say &...
- 46.3k
11
votes
What accent do trolls in Discworld have?
It's not cockney - it's just a common (as in low, not widespread) southern accent associated with uneducated thugs or gang heavies (even youse is used by this stereotype in some contexts, such as "any ...
- 46.3k
10
votes
What accent do trolls in Discworld have?
The features suggested by these spellings are:
Th-fronting ("This" -> "Dis", and "thick" -> "fick")
Th-fronting is a prominent feature of several dialects of English,
notably Cockney, Essex ...
- 2,471
10
votes
What does "sniffed" mean in this context?
People also sniff when they get a bit teary, as tearing up also makes your nose runny, and one (stereotypical) reason for a mother to tear up is motherly pride.
This is being used in the passage to ...
- 46.3k
10
votes
Accepted
What does "lethal protection" mean?
In purely a literal sense, 'lethal protection' -- in the context of this film -- alludes to the Venom symbiote being happy to kill some people (i.e. those it judges to be 'bad') in order to protect ...
- 128k
10
votes
Accepted
What does "that" in "No one ever meant that, Drax" refer to?
You (and Drax) have both misunderstood.
The line is
"Mantis, why don’t you just touch him and, you know, make him happy?"
Groot responds
"I am Groot?"
to which the other ...
- 709k
9
votes
Accepted
What does "Öl" mean near the bath building?
My Japanese is quite rudimentary, but according to the Wikipedia article about 「油屋」 the name refers to the business man Kumahachi Aburaya (1863 - 1935).
After Aburaya made, and lost again, a fortune ...
- 2,752
9
votes
Orc calls elves "filth?"
Gollum and the Orcs seemed to perceive the lembas bread and other Elvish items as tasting terrible, full of a smell they didn't like, and outright poisonous or painful - e.g. Gollum with the Elvish ...
- 601
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