General Trek Questions and Observations

[The Rock]

In my opinion, this show trying to use modern day lingo will date the show in the future. The more you use it, the less it holds up. Watch TOS or TNG (and Prodigy) and it still works - you can still understand the terms. Use things that are current slang, and by next year it will be out of date.

 

[Candleicious Ghost]

I wonder about little details like how do doctors like Crusher or Pulaski do their job, when it comes to bigger procedures? Has the 24th Century eliminated the need for surgery altogether? Do doctors no longer get their hands dirty doing the nitty gritty in an operating theatre?

How do they treat something like herniated disks or abdominal hernias for example?

 

[Finn]

They had major medical procedures shown on TNG several times.

Hernias are probably treated like removing warts though.

 

[Candleicious Ghost]

They had major medical procedures shown on TNG several times.

Hernias are probably treated like removing warts though.

But I don't think traditional surgery is done like we do today, I think most of the cutting would be gone by their time

 

[Finn]

They still do cutting, like with Picard's heart or Worf's spine, or removing/placing Dax.

All of that stuff like broken bones or cancer can be taken care of without cutting. We saw that many times, with a hypospray or a gizmo on their skin.

 

[Firebird]

In my opinion, this show trying to use modern day lingo will date the show in the future. The more you use it, the less it holds up. Watch TOS or TNG (and Prodigy) and it still works - you can still understand the terms. Use things that are current slang, and by next year it will be out of date.

Including that time Kirk made reference to sticking little girls' curls in inkwells?

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I suppose that's because it's the stuff of parents and grandparent's stories about their childhoods, classic literature and historical setting TV. It may not be currently done, but the reference has persisted.

 

[Firebird]

I suppose that's because it's the stuff of parents and grandparent's stories about their childhoods, classic literature and historical setting TV. It may not be currently done, but the reference has persisted.

The line about inkwells was already starting to become outdated in the late 60s. It's definitely outdated in the 21st century, since nobody uses inkwells in schools.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Maybe it reflects Kirk's reading choices - he lists examples from old books he likes. Or maybe such pranks came back into vogue in certain settings. Perhaps young Kirk belonged to calligraphy club in school?

"Dipping little girls' curls in inkwells. Stealing apples from the neighbours' trees. Tying cans on-"

I wonder how that last one would have finished? "Dog's tails" or "the back of people's cars"? The apple stealing is certainly still possible - he was a farm boy, so maybe his neighbours had an orchard.

 

[Firebird]

I'm not concerned with the potential ways the anachronistic line could be rationalized in-universe. The point is that TOS was just as susceptible to using contemporary language in its scripts as any other TV series.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

It just didn't stand out as much because it was something people were familiar with, not some new buzzword invented yesterday.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I'm not concerned with the potential ways the anachronistic line could be rationalized in-universe. The point is that TOS was just as susceptible to using contemporary language in its scripts as any other TV series.

And you can bet credits to Navy beans on that!

 

[Finn]

It just didn't stand out as much because it was something people were familiar with, not some new buzzword invented yesterday.

then in about 30 years, those sayings in STA would be no different from the inkwell line in TOS?

 

[cooleddie74]

And you can bet credits to Navy beans on that!

#SomethingSomethingSomethingFlypaper

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

It depends on how much they catch on - things come and go in the Internet age.

A slang term invented by the cast member of a niche one-season wonder streaming reality show may be popular for six months, but ultimately not have the staying power of a stereotypical schoolroom prank which had to come from somewhere - whether it was commonly done, or famously described. A memorable moment from a classic novel which was taught to millions of schoolchildren over a period of fifty years may endure, while a meme based upon an unintentionally hilarious screenshot from a made-for-TV movie may fade into the ether.

Then again, who knows? Perhaps some of the things we attribute to one notable source actually came from a quite different and ridiculous one we've all forgotten (except for the collectors of obscure trivia).

 

[Turtletrekker]

This conversation reminds me of something that I feel is related. The Trek tendency for dialogue to go along the lines of...

Generica Jones: "Doing this that and the other thing will result in the techity tech tech."

Phil N LeBlanc: "Just like the old Earth thing after a certain stimulus!"

The dialogue has to be grounded in the now because it is the now that is experiencing it. Honestly, I find the above tendency in Star Trek dialogue to be annoying as hell, but I understand why they do it.

At the end of the day, I think I prefer the dialogue to be more realistically in the now than in the comparatively generic wooden style of the BermaTrek era.

 

[1001001]

And you can bet credits to Navy beans on that!

 

[Farscape One]

View attachment 51423

One of the worst episodes of TOS (and the franchise). In this case, it was future slang from those hippies that REALLY dated the episode even more.

 

[Candleicious Ghost]

One of the worst episodes of TOS (and the franchise). In this case, it was future slang from those hippies that REALLY dated the episode even more.

No way Spock's Brain was worse