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Techno Babble: Difference between revisions
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The difference between jargon and technobabble is that, while jargon may seem incomprehensible to anyone not part of that particular field, it does indeed make sense to anyone familiar with the terms involved, for the simple reason that jargon is meant to allow for clear, unambiguous communication between specialists: if an average computer user says "I can only connect to one network, and even then, I don't have Web or storage," a trained engineer would report this as "User can associate their NIC with only one SSID, and does not seems to be receiving an IP address from the DHCP server." This part also applies to a good degree to non-science fields, where people may not know, for example, what a "1/4 flexible elbow" is, but if you're a plumber or A/C technician, you'd get it right away. Also, notice that technobabble is sometimes [[Truth in Television]], as dishonest technicians sometimes resort to vague, senseless "technical" jargon to make up "serious problems" in the inner workings of a machine and offer to "fix" them for a high price. There is also an element of [[Reality Is Unrealistic]] in the concept of the trope: it is only to be ''expected'', if you really think about it, that like all language scientific jargon will evolve over the course of a few centuries, with new words being coined and existing words changing their meaning. As a result, 24th century scientific lingo would naturally ''sound'' like complete nonsense to someone in the present in much the same way that modern day scientific lingo would no doubt sound to an inventor of the 1700's. The reverse is also true, if earlier science fictions are any guide.
Compare to [[Applied Phlebotinum]] and [[Green Rocks]]. When technobabble contradicts itself, well, [[A Wizard Did It]]. See also [[Blah Blah Blah]] and [[Technology Porn]]. [[Magi Babble]] for the fantasy version of this trope. Often the source of an [[Expospeak Gag]] and [[
{{examples
== Advertising ==
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* Terrible 90's family film Invisible Dad features a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rdsAvwFqiA kid who spouts out techno-talk that is obviously inaccurate,] in an example of this trope being used to disguise incompetence of the writer. Despite this, the kid also seems to think being able to plug things into the right slots is impressive.
* ''[[Event Horizon]]'' gives us this memorable exchange:
{{quote| '''Weir:''' Well, using [[
'''Miller:''' ''(exasperated)'' "Layman's terms"?...<br />
'''Cooper:''' Fuck "layman's terms", ''do you speak English?!'' }}
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== Literature ==
* ''[[The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy]]'' series played with this in ''[[The
** "And that's his sofa, is it?"
** Also played with in the first book and radio series:
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** Lampshaded and parodied in all incarnations by the Trek-themed Voltaire filk "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2v6rXs5J9M U.S.S. Make Shit Up]".
** ''TNG'' also loved to use the "inverse tachyon pulse" routed through the "main deflector dish" which managed to do completely contradictory things like work as a sensor and be an unstoppable death ray.
** Humorously Lampshaded and subverted in the ''TNG'' episode "Clues", where Data, [[Beware the Honest Ones|trying to lie through his teeth for the safety of the ship]], tries to use technobabble to explain away why some moss growth proved [[Year Inside, Hour Outside|the crew was out for far longer than the couple of seconds he claims they were]]. After he left, Picard asked Geordi if he believed the explanation; turns out, he didn't, and was even shocked that Data would try to bluff them like that.
** Funnily enough, this was [[Early Installment Weirdness|usually avoided]] in ''[[Star Trek the Original Series|TOS]]'', which rarely explained things beyond "Some part of the ship is damaged/malfunctioning, [[Mr. Fixit|Scotty]] and/or [[The Spock|Spock]] have to fix it, and then they do in the nick of time." An example of a technobabble-heavy episode by TOS standards is "The Doomsday Machine", which throws around terms like "anti-proton" and "inverse phasing", but in execution is still very straightforward when compared to the more modern ''Trek'' shows.
*** In its first two or three seasons, TNG also avoided technobabble. It didn't turn into the quantum-phase-modulating-fest we all know and love until two things happened: (1) Gene Roddenberry stepped down, and (2) the ''Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual'' was published, which contained more technobabble than you could shake a 9-Cochrane warp nacelle at.
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** Also subverted in ''Ariel'' - Simon teaches Mal, Zoe and Jayne some scripted medical jargon (with difficulty) to [[Bavarian Fire Drill|get them into a hospital]]. When it turns out they don't need it, Jayne decides to spout it anyway rather than let [[Book Dumb|his efforts go to waste]].
* ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' practically invented modern technobabble; to give every example would take years. In "The Girl in the Fireplace," the Doctor calls something a "spacio-spatial temporal hyperlink". He then admits he just made the term up because he didn't want to say "magic door".
** Averted in a later episode, "Blink", of the famed [[Timey
** [[Steven Moffat]] expressly hates technobabble, on the basis that only anoraks would enjoy watching it.
** Also subverted in several Fourth Doctor episodes, primarily focusing on the reason for the change in dimensions inside the TARDIS. Usually goes something like this:
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"What does that mean?"<br />
"[[Shaped Like Itself|It means that it's bigger inside than out.]]" }}
** Lampshaded also in a number of Third Doctor episodes: Jon Pertwee had trouble dealing with technical talk of any sort, so eventually the writers threw in the towel and had ''everything'' come out "Reverse the polarity" (albeit not '[[Beam Me Up, Scotty|of the neutron flow]]').
*** Well, except for [[Doctor Who (TV)/Recap/S9 E3 The Sea Devils|that one time]] when it ''was'' the polarity of the neutron flow ... the Master was suitably shocked at the suggestion. Perhaps he had no idea what it was, either.
** Also this from The Doctor's Wife:
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** Billy stopped using technobabble in season 2. Apparently none of the new Rangers could understand him. But they still have [[The Smart Guy]] use it regularly.
* ''[[NCIS]]'': [[Perky Goth]] Abby frequently has to shoot out ten-syllable words without the slightest break in her speech. During an interview, Pauley Perrette said that just ''learning'' all the words is the hardest part about playing Abby. Then we have Timothy McGee...
* Subverted on ''[[
* The ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'' episode "Nerve" name-drops this trope.
{{quote| '''Gilina Renaez:''' "This should bypass the grid, and hook us directly with main control."<br />
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== Newspaper Comics ==
* In one ''[[Dilbert]]'' strip, the [[Pointy
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* ''[[Genius: The Transgression (Tabletop Game)|Genius: The Transgression]]'': Actually represented in the rules, and known as Jabir. A [[Mad Scientist|Genius]] who tries to talk about any kind of science will find that they have suddenly stopped making sense.
** [[Deconstructed Trope]]/PlayedForDrama in this case; Jabir is described as a disturbing thing to witness and suffer from.
* ''[[Spirit of the Century]]'' allows players to make declarations about scientific facts their characters know which can help in whatever situation they find themselves in. Since ''[[Spirit of the Century]]'' runs on the rules of [[Two
* ''[[Paranoia]]'' has a recommendation for the GM about this trope: talk fast. If any of the players ask for clarification, tell them that said information is beyond their security clearance. The ''Paranoia XP'' rulebook also had a table at the back to randomly generate technobabble-esque medication names
* Many RPGs have their own set of jargon phrases. Try asking a new ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' player what THAC0 is (even the older players have trouble explaining it)<ref>THAC0: The number required to roll on a d20 To Hit an Armor Class of 0. Way back in Second Edition, a ''lower'' Armor Class was better. And sometimes you had to roll ''under'' target numbers (saving throws, psionic powers, etc.) Third Edition made things a lot simpler (rolling higher is always better). And yet THAC0 was actually a vast simplification from the jargon of first edition.</ref>.
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* Similarly, in ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'', Orators have a skill called Mimic Daravon that puts enemies to sleep. Daravon is the person who explains the mechanics of the game in the optional tutorial.
* ''[[Tales of the Abyss (Video Game)|Tales of the Abyss]]'' likes explaining the exact mechanics behind its magic system, and its explanations can turn into this. When you're discussing the game and it becomes necessary to explain that it wasn't obvious that a character's {{spoiler|fonon frequency was 3.14159}} because having the ability to channel a fonon through one's fon slots does not necessarily mean that one is isofonic to said fonon's aggregate sentience... yeah.
** ''[[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]]'' has some to explain [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|why something you did nearly destroys the world]], which makes so little sense that even if the was avoided the player would the events would probably still happen.
* Mocked by the blueprints of your ship in ''[[Cosmic Osmo]]'', which point out the ''Aero-ether Quanto-particulate Detecto Rings'' and a ''triple-loop Polar Yagi Recepto-Wod,'' among other features.
* The presenter in High Voltage's tech demo for their Quantum3 Engine spoke out so much technobabble, it made the E3 2004 tech demo of Unreal Engine 3 look tame in comparison. Terms include "Camera space RGB gloss maps", "tangent space gloss map", "standard tangent space bump maps", and roughly 20 seconds of showing a feature list of about 100+ features..
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* ''[[Far Out There]]'' does this [http://faroutthere.smackjeeves.com/comics/1030261/page-111-show-your-work all] [http://faroutthere.smackjeeves.com/comics/1071120/page-211-and-its-not-just-because-its-angry the] [http://faroutthere.smackjeeves.com/comics/1071137/page-213-get-on-with-it/ freaking] [http://faroutthere.smackjeeves.com/comics/1080531/page-274-and-the-technobabble-flowed-forth time], though there's usually at least a little [http://faroutthere.smackjeeves.com/comics/1080537/page-279-just-let-them-play-with-their-toys lampshading] going on.
* [http://www.sandraandwoo.com/2010/10/28/0212-techno-babble/ Completely inverted] by ''[[Sandra and Woo (Webcomic)|Sandra and Woo]]''.
* Technobabble in ''[[Girl Genius (Webcomic)|Girl Genius]]'' tends to run afoul of the [[Unspoken Plan Guarantee]]; if any use of technology is described it will fail or be foiled, necessitating [[Indy Ploy|on-the-spot improvisation]] that involves [[Percussive Maintenance]], [[Frickin' Laser Beams]], or [[A Wizard Did It|just science that happens to be weird]]. The entire three-way poison cure between Agatha, Gil and Tavrek is a good example, as it was full of babbling Sparks getting owned by [[
* In ''[[Nip and Tuck]]'', the [[Show Within a Show]] ''Rebel Cry'' features [http://www.rhjunior.com/NT/00689.html it, lampshaded.]
* ''[[Goblins]]''. Kin is prone to this, especially hilarious when talking to the dimwitted Minmax.
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'''Coop:''' ... That must be some grim future you have! }}
** She's [[Expospeak Gag|describing Gatorade]].
* Alternately played straight and played with in ''[[Teen Titans (Animation)|Teen Titans]]''. You have five teenagers living/fighting crime together. Cyborg is a half-robot and thus knows a ''lot'' about computers and machines, despite not finishing high school; Raven grew up meditating and reading ancient magical scrolls; Starfire is an alien with substantial knowledge of science and her own world's culture but will ultimately be stumped if you ask her a question about ''Earth's'' history, culture, and language; Robin is a [[Badass Normal]] raised by [[Batman]] who [[Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?|makes all of his own toys]]; and Beast Boy, as Raven so artfully put it, learned his history from a cereal box -- and the rest from TV. Get this group together and you're in for some pretty interesting conversations.
* In one episode of ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'', Supergirl finds herself in the future. Being from a similarly advanced civilization herself, she slips into technobabble (for our ears) at least once.
* In the first episode of the Thanagarian invasion ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'', one of the Thanagarian's suggests to the Martian Manhunter that he wouldn't understand the technology they are using. He replies with a burst of technobabble indicating a deeper understanding of what's going on that she obviously expected.
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[[Category:Applied Phlebotinum]]
[[Category:Techno Babble]]
[[Category:Trope]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]
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