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Phlebotinum Analogy (view source)

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* There was such an analogy in ''[[Apollo 13]]'', spoken in Mission Control. In this case what it referred to wasn't totally made up. (That part of the script was written by John Sayles, to raise money for his own projects.)
* ''[[Event Horizon]]'' (1997): The eponymous ship features a prototype graviton drive, a kind of [[Faster-Than-Light Travel|jump drive]], which bends space to eliminate the distance between two points anywhere in the universe, thus enabling instant travel from a to b (jumping). Dr. William Weir visualizes this by folding a sheet of paper, creating the synonymous term [[Faster-Than-Light Travel|fold drive]].
** Nearly the same analogy (using the edge of a skirt rather than a sheet of paper) is used to describe tessering in [[Madeleine L 'Engle]]'s ''[[A Wrinkle in Time]]''.
*** Another similar example in ''[[A Happy Accident]]'', using a leg bending to explain a way that time travel is possible.
*** ''[[DejaDéjà Vu (Filmfilm)|Deja Vu]]'' used the paper-folding analogy to explain it to [[Denzel Washington]].
*** And [[Older Than They Think|lest we forget]] the originator of said analogy, Albert Einstein.
** Subverted in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. A member of a super advanced humans planet tries to explain a piece of their technology to Daniel, and Daniel thinks he's talking about the "folding the universe to jump anywhere" theory, so he finishes the other guy's sentence to show that he understands. And the other guy looks at him deeply disapointed and says "no, absolutely not".
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== [[Literature]] ==
* Parodied in the [[Discworld]] book ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Night Watch|Night Watch]]'', where Lu Tze's explanation of why it's easier to get Vimes back to the present than it was to make sure the time loop that has been formed by Carcer killing his mentor before he met him was stabilized, (It's like climbing up, and then jumping off, a mountain) is satisfactory to Vimes. Then Qu starts to point out that that's [[Lies to Children|not how it works at all]] and Lu Tze tells him to shut up because it'll prevent too many further questions.
** There's also the scene in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Making Money|Making Money]]'' in which Adora Belle Dearheart calls the Cabinet of Curiosities "like a sliding puzzle, but with lots more directions to slide." Ponder Stibbons responds "That is a very graphic analogy which aids understanding wonderfully while being, strictly speaking, wrong in every possible way."
** And in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Thief of Time|Thief of Time]]'', {{spoiler|Lobsang}} explains how he's putting time back by comparing it to a jigsaw (in which the peices are scattered across the universe, moving, and mixed up with other jigsaws), before adding "Everything I have just said is nonsense. It bears no resemblence to the truth of the matter in any way at all." Sir Pterry, who co-created the phrase "[[Lies to Children]]", is fond of this gag.
* In Michael Crichton's [[Sphere]], a physicist character explains gravity and black holes to some of the other characters using fruit on a table.
 
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* The quintessential example is, to no one's surprise, ''[[Star Trek]]''
** One of the few times it fit was in a ''[[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation|Next Generation]]'' episode, where a [[Space Whale|larva space creature]] is feeding on the Enterprise, both because the ship's energy is compatible, and because it thinks the Enterprise is its mother. So they change the form of the energy to something incompatible, which they call, "sour the milk".
*** Later, when LaForge is retelling this incident to Scotty, Scotty uses the exact that phrase, despite LaForge (presumably) using only [[Techno Babble]] in his explanation.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' is also riddled with this trope. A fine example occurs when the Fourth Doctor attempts to explain the transdimensional TARDIS to Leela by showing her two boxes and explaining that if the bigger box (which has been placed farther away and looks smaller than the actual smaller box) could be kept where it was and yet located where the small box is, it would fit inside the small box.
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When Zelenka does come up with an analogy, Sheppard proudly says "I understand that" only to be told that the analogy isn't at all an accurate depiction of what he's doing. }}
** Fails in the episode that introduced the Tollan. When Daniel takes Omoc outside to send a FTL transmission to the [[Technical Pacifist|Nox]], he asks Omoc to explain how his message can cross interstellar distances in an instant. At first reluctant (due to the Tollan rule about not giving technology to younger races), Omoc takes a branch and bends it, so that the ends touch, explaining that the distances seem to be far away, until you merge the points together (paraphrasing). Daniel assumes he's talking about space folding, causing Omoc to shake his head in disappointment and shut up on the subject.
* In ''[[Red Dwarf (TV)|Red Dwarf]]'' there's a famous example that goes as follows:
{{quote| '''Cat''': What is it?<br />
'''Rimmer''': It's a rent in the space-time continuum.<br />
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'''Lister''': It's a hole back into the past.<br />
'''Cat''': Oh, a magic door! Well why didn't you say? }}
* Despite being pretty realistic in terms of medical jargon, ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' uses this about [[Once an Episode]]; apparently it's part of House's process.
{{quote| '''House''': We think you have a tumour, easily removed surgically. We're going to poke it with a stick.}}
** This was parodied in ''[[Dead Ringers (TV series)|Dead Ringers]]'', in which House asks his [[Insistent Terminology|Entourage of Improbably Attractive Sidekicks]] to first describe a medical problem in an impenetrably [[Techno Babble]] way, and then to come out with an overly emotive [[Phlebotinum Analogy]]. "...''His brain is literally eating itself!!''"
* ''[[Babylon Five|Babylon 5]]'' has fallen back on this one a few times. Not to anywhere near [[Star Trek]]'s level, of course.
* ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'' does this on occasion, hindered (sometimes hilariously) by mutual cross-cultural ignorance.
* In ''[[Lost]]'', Ben tells Locke that there is a "box on this island that can contain anything you want." And when Locke takes it [[Sidetracked Byby the Analogy|a little too literally]], Ben states outright "the box is a metaphor, John." Hilariously, later we do see something that can be described as a magic box. Locke asks Ben "[[Call Back|Is that the box]]?" Ben is confused for a moment, but quickly answers "no."
 
== [[Radio]] ==
* Happens regularly in ''[[Nebulous]]'', where the eponymous professor's analogies get twisted beyond the point of [[Metaphorgotten]].
* In the ''[[Torchwood (TV)|Torchwood]]'' radio play "The Dead Line", using an EMP to dislodge an alien presence in the phone system (which, in the scenario presented, makes sense) is described as "just like a computer uses an EM pulse to repel viruses" (which is total nonsense).
 
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in ''[[Adventurers (Webcomic)|Adventurers]]'', [http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/20060512.html here]:
{{quote| '''Drecker''': We gave the ball of death a giant cavity and now it's past the enamel! There! Fine! Okay?<br />
[[Beat Panel|(pause)]]<br />
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* An explanation of Deep Time's [http://starslip.com/2008/10/31/starslip-number-904/ plan for ending the time war] in [[Starslip Crisis]]:
{{quote| '''High Agent Blank''': Put another way: the future as we know it was ''chiseled'' over billions of years from a stone block. We ''know'' what the finished statue looks like. So let's make a mold of that and pour ''the universe'' into it. Then we don't have to worry about whether or not it gets chiseled right.}}
* In ''[[Digger (Webcomic)|Digger]]'', the statue eventually explains how Digger came to the story's setting by saying that Digger's home and the temple she emerged from were like two pieces of fabric, sewn together by {{spoiler|[[Chekhov's Gun|the fossil she brought through with her]], aka the "bones of the sea"}}.
* ''[[Drive (Webcomicwebcomic)|Drive]]'': The first emperor of La Familia uses this to explain how he ''thinks'' the Ring Drive works in a letter to his grandson.
 
== [[Western Animation]] ==
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'''Leela:''' It's not working! He's gaining strength from our weapons!<br />
'''Fry:''' Like a balloon and...[[Buffy-Speak|something bad happens!]] }}
* ''[[Extreme Ghostbusters (Animation)|Extreme Ghostbusters]]'' ("It's gonna blow up real good")
** And the original ''[[Ghostbusters]]'' movie, as seen above. ("Tell him about the twinkie.")
*** What about the twinkie?
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