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Accidentally Accurate: Difference between revisions
Removed TVT control freakery, removed commented out non-examples that left empty sections. Fixed links and redlinks. Copyedits.
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Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (Removed TVT control freakery, removed commented out non-examples that left empty sections. Fixed links and redlinks. Copyedits.) |
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If research not available at the time of the writing proves them right, that's a case of [[Science Marches On]] meeting this trope. If the theory would never have been accepted by researchers working in whatever field (e.g. Professor [[wikipedia:Alexander Abian|Alexander Abian]]'s theory that we should blow up the moon to stop Typhus), it's just the writers fertilizing some [[Epileptic Trees]]. If the writer was just showing off an obscure fact that he or she knows, that's [[Shown Their Work]]. Compare: [[Right for the Wrong Reasons]]. For the same principle applied to tactics, see [[Strategy Schmategy]].
{{examples}}
== Fanfic ==
* Many [[Dramatic Reading|Dramatic Readings]] of ''[[My Immortal]]'' scoff at the line which says that it was snowing and raining at the same time. This is known as "sleet" and it very much happens in the real world. If you believe one of the people who confessed to writing it as a [[Troll Fic]], the author thought it was impossible and put it in as a joke.
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== Live Action TV ==
* ''[[SeaQuest DSV]]'' had an episode where a character claims to have found something in the handwriting of the Greek poet Homer. This has to be incorrect, because it would be impossible for a blind man to write something that wasn't written down for many years. While it's not clear whether the writers knew it, there is a significant amount of scholarship debating whether Homer was actually blind and whether ''The Odyssey'' was actually written, as opposed to an oral narrative.
* ''Se Lo Que Hicisteis'' made a joke where they referred to the [[Dragon Ball|Dragon Balls]] as "Chinese balls", which refers to.... huh, anal beads. ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' is a Japanese series, but of course, [[All Asians Are Alike]] and All of Asia is China, so the show ''must'' hail from China, right? Except the balls are originally named in Gratuitous Chinese (A fact all Spanish dubs removed), so they're technically right. It's unlikely the guys who keep on saying the [[Maneki Neko]] is Chinese knew this...
* The season 34 episode of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' had a sketch about people who would benefit from the 2008 bailout that happened when the global economic meltdown was still fresh. Darrell Hammond and Casey Wilson played a couple named [[wikipedia:Herb Sandler|Herbert]] and [[wikipedia:Marion Sandler|Marion Sandler]] (no relation to [[Adam Sandler|Adam]]) who screwed Wachovia Bank out of a lot of money and profited from the economic meltdown. Now, considering that there were two other fictional characters introduced before them, you'd expect Herbert and Marion to be fakes, too, right? Not in this case: turns out Herbert and Marion Sandler were real people who did exactly what the sketch said they did ([[Lorne Michaels]] didn't realize this until after the sketch aired), making the brief clip of them being described as "People who should be shot" by a lower-third graphic tasteless (which explains why the NBC website video and the televised reruns got rid of that scene in the "2008 Bailout" sketch).
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** Only as a proportion of the population. Numerically, the US has the most Jews, and Russia has the most doctors.
* Something like this happened in ''[[The Wire]]'' with the character Kenard, who's seen briefly in season 3 and comes back in season 5 where he {{spoiler|assassinates Omar}}. The writers didn't actually realize that it was the same kid and only realized he'd been cast in both roles later, making it an unintentional case of [[Chekhov's Gunman]].
* [[In-Universe]] Example: ''[[Star Trek: The
** ...Riker commented that it's unlikely to have a Ferengi helmsmen. [[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Nog became an ensign nine years later]].
** ...Riker noted that there were more Klingons in Starfleet, notably a female that he passed on a deck. [[Star Trek: Voyager|B'Elanna Torres, a female Klingon/Human Hybrid worked as a chief engineer on a Starfleet vessel four years later]].
** ...Picard tells Riker that peace talks with the Romulans began four years ago (from the future that Riker was in), and that Riker's ship was instrumental in doing so. [[Star Trek Nemesis|It's pretty much just that, right down to the date]].
** ...and finally, Troi is seen wearing a Starfleet uniform, although she didn't wear one in the show at the time. [[Star Trek: The Next Generation|She started doing so two years later, although it was during the same series]].
* Chevy Chase on ''[[
* ''[[Community]]'' had a joke where [[Butt Monkey|Britta]] is said to have a favourite superhero character called ''[[X-Men|X-Man]]''. It's presented in-universe as a joke, with Britta either not knowing the names of the actual X-Men character she likes and calling the character X-Man instead. However, there's actually a real character named 'X-Man' in the Marvel continuity. The character, X-Man, is an alternate-universe version of Cyclops’ future son, Cable.
== Mathematics ==
* One theory about [[
** And it's not just the complexity of the proof that's a limiting factor here - Fermat only knew about as much math as a ''seventh grade child''. Repeated attempts to prove the theorem with math that basic failed, which made people throughout history despair that there was no proof
== Music ==
* It's unlikely that Maria Nayler was talking about [[
== Proverbs ==
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== [[Stand Up Comedy]] ==
* In his famous [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM ''Pachelbel Rant''], musician-comedian Rob Paravonian makes some very inaccurate claims about the piece, such as getting the date wrong by more than a century. However, the one thing that he admits that he doesn't know is the composer's first name, but guesses that it's Johann, since "they're all named Johann". Turns out he's dead right about that one.
== Theatre ==
* The play ''Abigail's Party'' makes a humorous reference to putting red wine (Beaujolais) in the fridge, as a comment of misguided middle class aspirations in the 70s. However, playwright Mike Leigh later learned that Beaujolais is one of a few red wines that is best when chilled.
* In ''[[The Mikado]]'', W.S. Gilbert used the name "Ko Ko" because he thought it was [[Inherently Funny Words|funny sounding]], and didn't know at the time that it is a legitimate Japanese name.
* One of the biggest points of academic contention about ''[[Hamlet]]'' is whether or not the titular Prince of Denmark is ''actually'' mad, or just faking it. The Vikings did allegedly have some sort of taboo against killng a person afflicted with madness, which makes pretending to be one a viable survival trait for the son of a usurped Danish king. Apparently, it's doubtful that Shakespeare would have been aware of this.
** Even so, it's not entirely a coincidence. While Shakespeare wouldn't have known about this taboo, the authors of his source material would have. He probably kept the [[Obfuscating Insanity]] plot without understanding the societal context of it.
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** While the writers may have known that a torus is one of the contenders for the shape of the universe, Homer certainly didn't know that when he told [[Stephen Hawking]] about his theory of a doughnut-shaped universe.
** In ''Two Bad Neighbors'' (first aired January 14, 1996), Homer pranks [[George H. W. Bush]] with cardboard cut-outs of "George Bush Jr. and Jeb Bush". According to the DVD commentary, the writers (and the 1996 audience) had no idea that George Bush, Sr. actually did have [[George W. Bush|a son who shared his name]] and thought it was just Homer being an idiot as usual. [[Hilarious in Hindsight|Four years later, and suddenly it's like Homer knew all along]].
** Abe Simpson once recalls his father talking about America being the greatest thing since sliced bread. He then says that sliced bread had been invented the previous winter. It was just meant as an old fart joke, but given that he served in WWII and
* Dolphins are frequently given an [[Alternative Character Interpretation]] as violent, venal and murderous animals, unlike their "actual" gentle and caring personality. As anyone who has studied dolphin behavior can tell you, [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_n3_v154/ai_21003387/ this interpretation is truer] [http://www.miaminewtimes.com/1993-09-01/news/the-flap-over-flipper/ than you might believe]. It's not clear which, if any, writers knew this when they used it.
** ''The Simpsons'' did this in "Treehouse of Horror XI".
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