A character (often a
Nerd) explains something using a reference that only another
Nerd could understand.
Usually along the lines of:
Character A: "I need advice about _______."
Character B: "Remember when ________ fought _______ in issue 24? That's what you need to do!"
Character A: "I feel like _________ when he was forced to ________ in episode 57 of ______."
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Film
- Marvin uses one in Daddy Day Care when the guys tell him they're shutting down the day care center, comparing it to when Spock betrayed Kirk in Star Trek V.
Literature
- In the book Tithe, Corny comes out to his Star Trek-loving parents by saying "You know that forbidden love Kirk has for Spock? Well, me too."
Live Action TV
- The Trio (and later just Andrew) in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. All the time.
- Inverted in Drake & Josh when Josh teaches Drake about atoms and molecules by comparing it to guitar chords.
- Another inversion in WKRP in Cincinnati; Venus teaches a gang leader about the structure of the atom using gang references.
- Generally how the main characters of The Big Bang Theory explain anything.
- Comparing situations to Schrödinger's Cat has become a Running Gag on the show.
- Eric Forman would usually compare his problems with those of Luke Skywalker.
- Mark from Peep Show frequently compares his experiences with World War Two and other history, especially in the first series.
- The Thick of It: Attempted by Malcolm Tucker here
. Trying to convince resident Star Wars fan Ollie Reeder to support his plan to get rid of Opposition Leader Nicola Murray, he uses perhaps the worst analogy in history.
Theater
Webcomics
- Dave does this a lot in Narbonic, although since he works for a mad scientist, his analogies with Star Trek and Marvel Comics are usually highly appropriate.
Web Original
- This quote from Bash.org
SergioThree: There's other fish in the sea, man, she's just a girl
Beatsfromkorea: No dude, that's bullshit.
Beatsfromkorea: Think of it this way. if your precious copy of
street fighter third strike broke and i told you "it's ok man, there's other games in the sea. here, play
mortal kombat instead" what would you say? you'd be like, "fuck that, gimme third strike."
SergioThree: ...
SergioThree: You just reached me on a level that I never thought possible
- We're Alive: Angel and Michael are trying to figure who among the survivors is The Mole who just shot Pippin. When talking about a survivor named Lewis, Angel mentions that he was on the top floor of the Tower at the time of the incident.
Michael: "Who?"
Angel: "The...Nevermind it was a nerd joke."
Western Animation
- The Simpsons: Martin uses an old-timey reference which the creators need to put up a subtitle to explain, because Martin uses the word in its original meaning. Individually we are weak, like a single twig, but as a bundle we form a mighty faggot. fag-got (fag' - et) n. a bundle of sticks for fuel. (Fr. fagot, a bundle of sticks).
