SF Stuff that Really Annoys You!

[JunkMonkey]

How much does a poetic licence cost? I’ve not noticed the application forms in the Post Office.

I think you have to get an Artistic Licence which allows you to draw and print your own.

 

[farntfar]

How much does a poetic licence cost? I’ve not noticed the application forms in the Post Office.

A licence for your pet poet? Called Eric? Eric the Poet?

 

[JunkMonkey]

A licence for your pet poet? Called Eric? Eric the Poet?

I really am sad man but when it was announced that dog licences were being scrapped all those years ago I went to the Post Office and bought one, I have never owned a dog, then scribbled out the word 'dog', and wrote the word 'cat' on it - in crayon. I still have it somewhere.

 

[pogopossum]

Zaphod Beeblebrox calls Marvin "the paranoid android" in the radio series. Bender, though, is definitely a robot.

Nope. That was a play with words. Poor perhaps, but not a mistake.

edit: I reviewed later posts which made better points.
But Adams stuff (even his Doc Who) is about language, so he gets a all purpose pass.

 

[farntfar]

I really am sad man but when it was announced that dog licences were being scrapped all those years ago I went to the Post Office and bought one, I have never owned a dog, then scribbled out the word 'dog', and wrote the word 'cat' on it - in crayon. I still have it somewhere.

Quite brilliant!
At least you didn't buy a van and write MINISTRY OF HOUSINGE on it.

 

[Venusian Broon]

I don't know if this has been mentioned already, but one-hat planets. Made famous by Star Trek. And the related, one-biome planets. Made famous by Star Wars

I know most TV programmes don't have the time or money to give us all splendid multi-cultural, multi-biomed worldbuilding delights, they have a plot to rip out in 50 minutes usually. Still., I like to see some degree of complexity.

Perhaps I should just stick with novels.

 

[Vince W]

Apparently 'reversing the polarity' solves everything!

Reverse Polarity - TV Tropes

When a major obstacle in a Science Fiction show is resolved purely through the judicious application of Techno Babble, the characters have successfully Reversed the Polarity. It seems that every futuristic gadget or space ship subsystem performs …

tvtropes.org

The masterwork in physics, Dick and Jane Go Faster Than Light, clearly contradicts this principle.

 

[JunkMonkey]

I drew a strip about this a while back:

 

[LordOfWizards]

If you were travelling FTL, wouldn’t you be meeting oncoming light from your destination? It’s the light from behind, where you’re coming from, that can’t catch up.

Hmm... You're kind of making sense. Stop it!

My response is: I don't know. Red and blue shift is a sub light speed effect. If you are going 10X the speed of light, would the light coming at you appear higher in frequency? (gamma ray level)

I think we should test the theory. Oh wait, we can't.

 

[psikeyhackr]

How much does a poetic licence cost? I’ve not noticed the application forms in the Post Office.

You must get that from English literature teachers. They charge extra for science fiction writers. It is some kind of penalty.

 

[BAYLOR]

Cancellation of a science fiction show that I like .

 

[Ursa major]

I still have it somewhere.

It will be out of habit, your cat having insisted that you had ready-to-hand proof of your minion credentials while it was alive.