Anybody Actually Like Technobabble?

[Sandoval]

Nope, the exchange was something like this.

O'Brien: She'll do warp 9.8 in a pinch.
Dax: I thought the maximum rated output was 9.6
O'Brien: It was.

Yep. It was 9.6 before the service, now it's 9.8.

Can't beat a good service.

 

[smalltalk66]

Captain Byant: So, whatta think about it?
Gaff: I piss on technobabble, sir.
Deckard: Technobabble, hunh? You got the wrong guy, pal. Go tell 'em I'm eating.

 

[dtoliaferro]

If I were a Starfleet engineer, scientist, or doctor I'd technobable as much as I could. I just love the stuff!

 

[MacLeod]

Nope, the exchange was something like this.

O'Brien: She'll do warp 9.8 in a pinch.
Dax: I thought the maximum rated output was 9.6
O'Brien: It was.

Yep. It was 9.6 before the service, now it's 9.8.

Can't beat a good service.

The servi ce had nothing to do with it.

I get my car serviced regularly. It's maximum engine output is something like 135bhp, after service it's not suddenly going to jump to say 140bhp.

 

[Sandoval]

Nope, the exchange was something like this.

O'Brien: She'll do warp 9.8 in a pinch.
Dax: I thought the maximum rated output was 9.6
O'Brien: It was.

Yep. It was 9.6 before the service, now it's 9.8.

Can't beat a good service.

The service had nothing to do with it.

I get my car serviced regularly. It's maximum engine output is something like 135bhp, after service it's not suddenly going to jump to say 140bhp.

It was the service. Something as minor as a 5bph increase over and above the manufacturer's claims can easily be achieved with some tinkering.

Chief O'Brien just gave it a good service and away they went.

Job done.

 

[Forbin]

Worst was "The Swarm". The enemy was immune to phasers. All was doomed. Suddenly, Janeway jumps up and goes "why don't we try BABYTALK TECHNOBABBLING the phasers?". Then the phasers worked. The end.

Fuck that shit!

Essentially the same thing happens in CSI and House, M.D.

Completely different. House and CSI are procedurals where the whole point of the show is discovering the criminal/disease via microscopic investigation of clues and minutia of detail.

Trek isn't.

 

[Forbin]

One of my favorite bits in Stargate SG-1 was when Carter started a deep technological explanation of something and O'Neill yelled at her.

"CARTER!"
"Sir?"
"It doesn't work?"
"No, sir."
"Fix it."
"Yes, sir."

 

[C.E. Evans]

^to me that transaltes as two issues

The warp coils have a problem as does the plasma regulator

As the warp coild have nothing to do with the plasma regulator. A regulator controls the flow rate. In that instance the flow rate of warp-plasma. i.e. 0-100%.

So a much simpler line would be along the lines of

"We're unable to goto warp as the plasma regualtors are off line."

Basically the fuel lines been cut. Or if you want to go with the warp coils

"There is a failure in the warp coil synchronisation preventing us from forming a stable warp field"

And it the end it all that comes down to "the warp drive is out," which is direct and to the point.

 

[MacLeod]

^True, sometimes in ST and all the shows are guilty of this to varying degrees. They tried to over technobabble the problem.

 

[Draculasaurus]

There's nothing wrong with technobabble, but sometimes a lame plot device takes the form of technobabble.
Lame plot devices are bad, whatever flavor they come in.

 

[JarodRussell]

Worst was "The Swarm". The enemy was immune to phasers. All was doomed. Suddenly, Janeway jumps up and goes "why don't we try BABYTALK TECHNOBABBLING the phasers?". Then the phasers worked. The end.

Fuck that shit!

Essentially the same thing happens in CSI and House, M.D.

Completely different. House and CSI are procedurals where the whole point of the show is discovering the criminal/disease via microscopic investigation of clues and minutia of detail.

Trek isn't.

Perhaps this Trek was.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

A little technobabble goes a long way. If anything, it's inefficient for somebody to go into a fully detailed oral report of how something is done. Brevity is much more desired (the captain can read the full report later, IMO).

ENGINEER: The warp coils are in multiphase-lock; we can't generate a stable warp field until we can regulate the plasma flow from the warp core.
(translation: Warp drive is out; it'll take awhile to fix it.)

The captain gets the same idea his ship isn't moving anytime soon with fewer words.

Actually, tech speak and technobabble aren't the same thing. "Warp drive is out" is techspeak; "Engines are overheating, Captain!" is more detailed techspeak. "Engines are in multiphase lock" is technobabble, as is anything that follows it; you're just spitting out scientific terms to try and sound intelligent and the extra verbage doesn't convey any relevant information.

My favorite technobabble of all time:
"I am endeavouring, ma'am, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins."

 

[nil_jones]

Does anybody have a favorite technobabble line? O'brien and Dax always had some good technobabble to spew.

I was like the line from "Second Sight" where O'Brien nonchantly says he's just made the ship faster by something like .2 warp.

Nope, the exchange was something like this.

O'Brien: She'll do warp 9.8 in a pinch.
Dax: I thought the maximum rated output was 9.6
O'Brien: It was.

I thought warp scales for TNG and later were logarithmic, like decibels or the Richter scale; the difference between Warp 2.6 and 2.8 is orders of magnitude less than the difference between 9.6 and 9.8.

 

[C.E. Evans]

A little technobabble goes a long way. If anything, it's inefficient for somebody to go into a fully detailed oral report of how something is done. Brevity is much more desired (the captain can read the full report later, IMO).

ENGINEER: The warp coils are in multiphase-lock; we can't generate a stable warp field until we can regulate the plasma flow from the warp core.
(translation: Warp drive is out; it'll take awhile to fix it.)

The captain gets the same idea his ship isn't moving anytime soon with fewer words.

Actually, tech speak and technobabble aren't the same thing. "Warp drive is out" is techspeak; "Engines are overheating, Captain!" is more detailed techspeak.

Techspeak?

I'd call it just plain English.

 

[Forbin]

Spock: "I have never understood the human propensity for saying in ten words what could as easily be said in five."

 

[MacLeod]

^You're simply not trying hard enough if it takes you only 5 words to say something that could be said in 10. :P

 

[Forbin]

When I'm working on the company newsletter and we have some white space left over at the end of an article, we had one editor who could stand behind me and dictate the exact right amount of utter bullshit to fill up the space. It was a rare talent!

 

[arthur2sheds]

The technobabble in Next Generation and Deep Space Nine was reasonable, but it got VERY silly in Voyager.

 

[Forbin]

DS9 toned it down a lot, but there are still moments when I wanted to scream "Oh god, just shut up and get on with the plot!!!"

 

[Lord Manitou]

Voyager's hull is becoming critical, and Chakotay finally learns how. The ship entered through a tri-metric fracture. Chaotic Space intercepts normalcy at the 18th dimensional gradient. He barn-storms the bridge and accesses controls where a wise Janeway gives him freedom.
This is all clear and easy to understand. Secondly where would the ep. be without these esthetic statements.