Meaningless Meaningful Words: Difference between revisions

'''Aramis''': "No! That mask was Louis' creation. Now we have a chance to make a miracle -- to strip all masks away forever." }}

** Considering the extent of his plan is to replace the nasty-creep brother on the throne with his nice-guy brother, that last statement makes absolutely no sense.

** In the book, during Dumbledore's funeral, Harry listens to Elphias Doge give a eulogy, mentioning things like "strength of mind" or "nobility of spirit", and thinks it doesn't mean very much. He then remembers some of the first words he ever heard Dumbledore speak, at the beginning of his 1st year- "Nitwit, blubber, oddment, tweak!"- has to suppress a smile, and wonders what's the matter with him.

* Due to Criswell's [[Fauxlosophic Narration]], ''[[Plan 9 from Outer Space]]'' has a lot of this:

* ''[[The Matrix]]'': "You have many questions, and though the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human. Ergo some of my answers you will understand, and some of them you will not. Concordantly, while your first question may be the most pertinent, you may or may not realize it is also the most irrelevant."

** [[Will Ferrell|Ergo, concordantly, visa vi]]. [[MTV|You know what, I have no idea what the hell I'm saying.]] [[Rule of Cool|I just though it would sound cool.]]

* A whole number is devoted to that in ''[[The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas]]''. The governor of Texas is responding to the press.

{{quote|Fellow Texans, I am proudly standing here to humbly see. I assure you, and I mean it- Now, who says I don't speak out as plain as day? And, fellow Texans, I'm for progress and the flag- long may it fly. I'm a poor boy, come to greatness. So, it follows that I cannot tell a lie.}}

** The pass phrases in ''[[Discworld/Guards! Guards!|Guards! Guards!]]'' The significant owl hoots in the night. The caged whale knows nothing of the mighty deeps.

*** That is actually parody of [[Spy Speak]] (it had to be so outrageously complex because [[Spy Speak]] is ridiculous in its own right).

** And it's ''[[The Eye of Argon|certainly not vomit.]]''

* Speaking of ''[[The Eye of Argon]]''... 'nuff said.

* In ''[[Everworld]],'' [[Token Evil Teammate]] and arguable [[Big Bad]] [[Hot Witch|Senna]] purposely uses this when talking with her "friends" in an attempt to manipulate them. Unfortunately for her, most of them aren't going to accept it, especially [[The Smart Guy|Jalil]].

* P.G. Wodehouse uses quite a few of these for his character [[Jeeves and Wooster (novel)|Madeline Bassett]]. I think the author describes it best through one of his characters:

{{quote|She's one of those soppy girls, riddled from head to foot with whimsy. She holds the view that the stars are God's daisy chain, that rabbits are gnomes in attendance on the Fairy Queen, and that every time a fairy blows its wee nose a baby is born, which, as we know, is not the case. She's a drooper. }}

 

*** Uh...it seems to mean something like the Superman argument where he has to understand people's suffering to want to save them; otherwise, he's just some guy. Of course, this ignores the fact that Superman is an alien with superpowers, so of course he'd have to make an extra effort to identify with humanity when rogue supers come out to play, rather than join the bad guys who are more like him than the Muggles he protects.

*** Or that by keeping a stiff upper lip approach and not admitting weakness, he can't empathise with the people he's purporting to protect and distancing himself from them, as well as from her. Fairly straightforward, it's similar to the accusations leveled at [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] in [[GoldenEye (film)|GoldenEye]].

 

 

== [[Music]] ==

* One word: [http://www.darklyrics.com/lyrics/esoteric/subconsciousdissolutionintothecontinuum.html Esoteric]

{{quote|So what ails you is what impales you

I feel like I've been crucified to be satisfied }}

** Reading a lyrics sheet of almost any song from these two albums is like tossing [[Word Salad]]. Many songs have large sections of lyrics that just don't make sense even in context. It's as if [[Dr. Seuss]] wrote the lyrics, only instead of making up nonsense words to fit rhymes, he makes up nonsense sentences.

* "These Things" by She Wants Revenge seems to be about a love/hate relationship falling apart... but it's hard to tell as it seems to be made up of random phrases that the songwriter thought sounded poetic.

* A live recording of Dar Williams' "It's Alright" includes her explanation of what inspired the song, which was, among other things, a friend telling her that she (the friend) had watched some program that said that "a warrior is really 100% vulnerable". Williams repeats this (several times, even) as if it's a great revelation, but while it sounds kinda deep, it's also vague enough as to not mean much of anything.

** The entire ''song'' is like this.

* ''[[Dragon Force (video game)]]''. [[Completely Missing the Point|The lyrics]] are ''meaningless.''

* To quote [[Mike Patton]]:

 

== [[Theatre]] ==

* Invoked ''deliberately'' at the end of ''[[Urinetown]]: The Musical.'' "I See a River, Flowing for Freedom" is a great catchphrase for a new revolution, until {{spoiler|you face the fact that ''all the water is gone,'' and the townsfolk keep telling themselves that}} "I See a River Just In You" {{spoiler|means they won't die of dehydration.}}

* [[Waiting for Godot|Given the existence as uttered forth in the public works of Puncher and Wattmann of a personal God quaquaquaqua with white beard quaquaquaqua outside time without extension who from the heights of divine apathia divine athambia divine aphasia loves us dearly with some exceptions for reasons unknown but time will tell and suffers like the divine Miranda with those who for reasons unknown but time will tell are plunged in torment plunged in fire whose fire flames if that continues and who can doubt it will fire the firmament that is to say blast hell to heaven so blue still and calm so calm with a calm which even though intermittent is better than nothing but not so fast and considering what is more that as a result of the labors left unfinished crowned by the Acacacacademy of Anthropopopometry of Essy-in-Possy of Testew and Cunard it is established beyond all doubt all other doubt than that which clings to the labors of men that as a result of the labors unfinished of Testew and Cunnard it is established as hereinafter but not so fast for reasons unknown that as a result of the public works of Puncher and Wattmann it is established beyond all doubt that in view of the labors of Fartov and Belcher left unfinished for reasons unknown of Testew and Cunard left unfinished it is established what many deny that man in Possy of Testew and Cunard that man in Essy that man in short that man in brief in spite of the strides of alimentation and defecation wastes and pines wastes and pines and concurrently simultaneously what is more for reasons unknown in spite of the strides of physical culture the practice of sports such as tennis football running cycling swimming flying floating riding gliding conating camogie skating tennis of all kinds dying flying sports of all sorts autumn summer winter winter tennis of all kinds hockey of all sorts penicillin and succedanea in a word I resume flying gliding golf over nine and eighteen holes tennis of all sorts in a word for reasons unknown in Feckham Peckham Fulham Clapham namely concurrently simultaneously what is more for reasons unknown but time will tell fades away I resume Fulham Clapham in a word the dead loss per head since the death of Bishop Berkeley being to the tune of one inch four ounce per head approximately by and large more or less to the nearest decimal good measure round figures stark naked in the stockinged feet in Connemara in a word for reasons unknown no matter what matter the facts are there and considering what is more much more grave that in the light of the labors lost of Steinweg and Peterman it appears what is more much more grave that in the light the light the light of the labors lost of Steinweg and Peterman that in the plains in the mountains by the seas by the rivers running water running fire the air is the same and then the earth namely the air and then the earth in the great cold the great dark the air and the earth abode of stones in the great cold alas alas in the year of their Lord six hundred and something the air the earth the sea the earth abode of stones in the great deeps the great cold on sea on land and in the air I resume for reasons unknown in spite of the tennis the facts are there but time will tell I resume alas alas on on in short in fine on on abode of stones who can doubt it I resume but not so fast I resume the skull fading fading fading and concurrently simultaneously what is more for reasons unknown in spite of the tennis on on the beard the flames the tears the stones so blue so calm alas alas on on the skull the skull the skull the skull in Connemara in spite of the tennis the labors abandoned left unfinished graver still abode of stones in a word I resume alas alas abandoned unfinished the skull the skull in Connemara in spite of the tennis the skull alas the stones Cunard tennis the stones so calm Cunard unfinished...]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFZatmOFpns It takes a full five minutes in the film adaptation.]

** In ''[[Dirge of Cerberus]]'', <s>Weiss</s> {{spoiler|Hojo}} goes on several extended and overwrought rants about all the horrible stuff he's going do to the human race now that [[Unexplained Recovery|he's back]]. Their only saving grace is that they're delivered oozing with [[Ham and Cheese]] by both characters' voice actors.

* ''[[Bayonetta]]'': [[Path of Inspiration|Father]] [[Light Is Not Good|Balder]], the (apparent) [[Big Bad]], [[Just Between You and Me|delivers]] [[Cryptic Conversation|such a]] [[Mr. Exposition|speech]] to Bayonetta in the penultimate chapter, repeating himself [[Rule of Three|three whole times]]. [[The Reveal]] is actually easy to understand: ( {{spoiler|Bayonetta is effectively half of God Herself, magically transported to the future. Only by meeting her past self could she recover from the [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]] and awaken.}}) However, Balder buries this information under so many Meaningless Meaningful Words that he is borderline incomprehensible. Interestingly, [[Badass Normal|Luca]] actually [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshades]] this shortly after he finishes.

** Wait, wouldn't you be just a tad bit concerned for your safety if you were in a creepy town with blood gratuitously smeared everywhere?

** One possible interpretation is that it refers to Alessa reaching adolescence while in a crippled state, and her horrified confusion caused by [[Hormone-Addled Teenager|the strange changes her body is undergoing]].<ref>Alternatively she understands that the onset of her periods {Blood} means she is ready for childbirth {Flesh}, and thus the birth of the God is nigh.</ref> It correlates with one of the game's main inspirations: [[Stephen King]]'s [[Carrie]].

* Lampshaded in [[Knights of the Old Republic|The Sith Lords]], when Atton mocks "Jedi talk".

{{quote|'''Atton''': "Just so you Jedi know, the whole "cryptic routine" isn't mysterious, it's just irritating. If you really can see the future, you should be at the pazaak table."

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* In [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/2/22/ this strip], down a bit closer to the bottom, ''[[Penny Arcade (Webcomic)|Penny Arcade]]'' addresses this sort of dialogue in their usual way.

{{quote|Morris: Our shadow threatens to be our shadow no longer!

Ruby: Say what?

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* An episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' brilliantly parodies the use of this in election speeches.

{{quote|'''[[Hugh Mann|'Bill Clinton']]''': We must move forwards, not downwards, upwards, not forwards, and ever twirling, twirling, ''twirling'' toward freedom!}}