Data's Contractions

It was a stupid idea in the first place. In Datalore he could have easily been suspected by Wesley with that twitch alone, and the "beautiful isn't it" comment.

 

Holo-Tomalak: "That says a lot more about you than it does our mind probes!"

In retrospect, it there a more hypocritical episode than Hollow Pursuits?

 

I think Grizzly Adams or Jeremiah Johnson did not use contractions, but I cannot remember which one.

 

Worf didn't seem to use contractions often either.

 

I hadn't noticed before, but I think you're right.

 

^ At the very least I know Worf loved saying "Can Not" over "can't" most of the time. Just something I always noticed. It definitely worked for him, I liked it.

 

^Probably because "can not" sounds more forceful, kinda.

 

HAHAHAH ... OMG thank you that made my day ... LOL

 

Just watching the episode "In Theory" where Data pursues a relationship ...

He just walked in to Jenna's quarters and yelled "Honey, I'm home!" ... Then just now while I'm typing this he yells at her "You're not my mother"

blah

 

The most recent instance I can recall from the TV series is in "Descent Part II" when Picard gets hold of a weapon and tries to escape, only to encounter Data (still compromised by Lore at this point) who grabs Geordi's throat and says "Drop it, or I'll break his neck."

 

Point and match. I wish the writers had thought along these lines before veering into the absurd.

 

Novel writers perhaps did (veer into the absurd, I mean). Episode writers never made a big deal of it: no story, B-story or passing joke hinged on Data's inability to use a contraction, even though some fun was made on the fact that he spoke like an upper class nerd in general.

As "Datalore" already shows, contractions weren't a surefire way to tell Data apart from imitators; the real Data used a contraction or two early on in the episode, then did the final "I'm fine", as if to disprove a false claim. Wesley no doubt learned his lesson that day, going all "Oh shit, I was betting my life on a silly mistaken belief!"...

Really, there's nothing Data can't do, as per TNG. It just takes a little practice, be it sneezing, or cracking a joke, or convincingly emoting, or convincingly using informal language in conversation.

Timo Saloniemi

 

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Phil Farrand made an attempt to catalog them in his nitpicker's guide. Although I believe he admits his list is certainly incomplete. Still the most comprehensive collection I've seen.

 

I admit it: I LOL'd.

 

I must point out that the premise was never that Data could not utter the sound of a contraction. Thus he could quote someone using a contraction. He could say the word "isle". In "In Theory" it might be argued that "You're not my mother" and "Honey, I'm home" were quotes, in a sense, from his research into relationships.

The premise was that, as he was formulating his own thoughts into words, he didn't have that "neural pathway" to formulate the contraction in real time. It was a linguistic, rather than verbal, defect.

As has been said, the premise was often violated. I just found one in "Suspicions" where Data says "I'm running additional diagnostics...". It can be difficult to distinguish between "I'm" and a very fast "I am", but Data's impeccable speech pacing helps here. He said "I'm".

 

Braiiiiinnnnnsssssss

 

In the season 6 episode 'Timescape,' Data says "I'm not sure he is a Romulan."