Skip to main content

star trek - Why did Data have to help Picard identify a city block?



In "The Big Goodbye", when Picard is describing his experience to the crew:



Picard: And from the window, I could see an entire...(makes large rectangle shapes with his arms)


Data: City Block.


Picard: Yes that's right!



But in shots of Earth, we see plenty of cities that still exist in 'modern time'. Why would Picard not know what a city block is?



Answer



The exchange seems to be designed to show that while Picard may have a superficial grasp of Mid-20th Century American terminology (mostly from his reading of pulp magazine detective stories), his genuine understanding is actually quite poor, as the earlier part of the exchange shows;




PICARD: And when I looked down into the street, I actually saw automobiles!


WORF: Automobiles?


DATA: An ancient Earth device used primarily for transportation.



As well as using marginally inappropriate language, he fails to recognise a reference to baseball (by then a dead sport) and also misunderstands fairly common expressions;



VENDOR: Hey Dix. How's tricks?


PICARD: Oh, she's fine, fine.



Ultimately he decides to bring an expert along (Professor Whalen) to help him enjoy the program more fully.



The fact that he doesn't know the specific term for a "city block" isn't that uncommon. It's a peculiarly American term and one that only arose in the 1800s. It's quite reasonable to assume by the year c2400AD the expression would have become obsolete, especially given that the Earth of the future is a paradise with little overcrowding.



FYI, In the original script, the line was slightly different;



PICARD : I saw an entire city block from that window.


BEVERLY : It sounds wonderful.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more