Chapter Four Data Analysis
4.5 Mismatch of linguistic style
Despite the fact that nerds are represented as people who employ formal register
across contexts, they are also represented as people who want to integrate into popular
culture. In the following example, we can see that the playwrights want to mold Raj
and Howard as characters who desire to be cool:
Example 52 (from 213) At the un versity cafeteria.
Howard: C’mon, don’t let him get to you. It’s Kripke.
=> Raj: Yeah, he’s a ginormous knob. (laughter)
=> Howard: That’s why he eats by himself, instead of sitting here at the cool table.
(laughter)
=> Raj: Fo’ shizzle. (laughter)
Sheldon is annoyed by the comments of Kripke, one of their colleagues. After
Kripke left, Howard tells Sheldon that he shouldn’t be sad because that’s what Kripke
wants. Raj adds that Kripke is a “ginormous knob.” The two words are slang, and Raj,
being an astrophysicist, does not usually use slang in conversation. “Ginormous” is a
slang coined by the coalescence of two words, “gigantic” and “enormous”, meaning
“bigger than gigantic or enormous”. The slang usage “knob” is synonymous with
“dick (slang usage),” “asshole,” or someone with an undesirable character. Howard,
agreeing with Raj, adds that this is why Kripke is not at the “cool table.” A second
laughter ensues because nerds are seen as antithesis to being cool in American society,
and Howard’s statements is contradictory to social norms. Raj continues to pile on,
replying “fo’ shizzle,” the slang expression of “for sure.” The audience laughs again
because the style of slang is incompatible to Raj’s everyday style.
From the discussions above, it can be concluded that the language of nerds
constitutes a certain style. But in the following example, the playwrights play with
such style and juxtapose it with a clashing style in order to create incongruity in the
script:
Example 53 (from 102)
At the apartment lobby. Sheldon and Leonard are trying to move a piece of heavy furniture up to Penny’s apartment. The elevator is out of order, so they take the stairs.
sub-TC 7
[omitting ten lines]
Leonard: Oh, okay, uh, okay, yeah, no problem, just come up here and help me pull and turn.
Sheldon heads up the stairs. The package slides back down to the bottom.
(laughter)
=> Sheldon: Ah, gravity, thou art a heartless bitch. (laughter)
In this scene, Leonard and Sheldon try very hard to move a big piece of furniture
upstairs. Since the elevator is out of order, it is very hard for the furniture to go across
the corner of the staircase. Sheldon quotes the famous saying from the Shakespearean
play Hamlet. It has been so popular that it has become a catch phrase in the English
language. The original line is “Frailty, thy name is women.” In this excerpt, the
expression is modified into “gravity, thou art….” This is a kind of archaism that
intends to emphasize the style of English in the 16th century. However, the humor
comes from the clash of styles: “a heartless bitch” is an expletive in contemporary
English, which does not go with the archaic style of the subject and the verb. Also,
expletives are not the words that nerds are likely to say. The minor deviation of
character is also a source of humor.
When we try to engage in conversations, the wrong choice of styles is not
effective, and causes incongruity:
Example 54 (from 218)
The four guys are brainstorming for Penny’s business venture, Penny Blossom.
TC 14
Leonard: She’d need some kind of industrial cooling system.
Sheldon: Of course, but before we set up a marketing and distribution
infrastructure, we should finish optimizing the manufacturing process.
To start with, she has a terrible problem with moisture-induced glitter clump.
=> Penny: Yeah, it’s a bitch. (laughter)
In this episode, Penny decides to launch a home business called Penny Blossom,
a homemade hair barrette. The four guys brainstorms to help her optimize the
manufacturing business and establish an assembly line. During the discussion, it is
obvious that Penny does not understand the procedure of launching a successful
manufacturing business, and she can only nod along. The audience can be regarded as
people who do not have the knowledge of establishing assembly lines as well, and one
can only suppose that there is a major problem in something because the wording that
is used to frame the problem is “To start with, she has a terrible problem in…” Penny,
who has no clue of what it is about, speaks along the line with “yeah, it’s a bitch.” The
humor lies in that the four guys are discussing serious issues with high formality,
while Penny chooses the colloquial expletive “bitch” as a response. The mismatch of
formality makes the audience laugh.
Example 55 (from 222)
Howard: [one line omitted] sub-TC 7 Now, here’s an approximation of the spare parts available on the Space Station. We gotta find a way, using nothing but this, to reinforce this so the waste material avoids the spinning turbine.
=> Raj: You mean so it doesn’t hit the fan? (laughter) [two lines omitted]
Howard designed a space toilet intended for NASA space stations. However, he
later finds out that the toilet will be out of order after ten flushes due to design defects.
Howard is doing everything he can to figure out a way to fix the toilet with the spare
parts available on the space station, and later teach the astronauts to fix the toilet by
themselves without reporting him to NASA. His friends are recruited to help him, but
after familiarizing themselves with the situation, they eventually come to a dead end.
Howard is explaining what he intends to fix the toilet, and Raj responds with “so it
doesn’t hit the fan?” This is clearly a reference to the colloquial idiom, “when the shit
hits the fan.” The idiom is used to describe a situation which is out of control, and the
consequences are going to be disastrous. Given that the situation in the space station
after the toilet breaks down, it would not only satisfy the idiomatic meaning, but
literal meaning as well. The pun intended by Raj’ comment triggers laughter from the
audience.
Example 56 (from 204)
Raj and Penny are going to a TIME magazine party which honors Raj’s academic
achievements. Since Raj cannot talk to women other than his family member when he is sober, Raj comes to pick up Penny under the influence of alcohol.
TC 22
Penny: Oh, Raj, look at you!
Raj: (holding a glass of champagne) I know, I am resplendent like the noonday sun, am I not? (laughter)
Penny: Um, yeah, starting with the champagne a little early aren’t you?
Raj: It was in the limo. They sent a limo. I have a limo. I just love saying limo.
(laughter) Here, sip on this while you’re getting ready.
Penny: Oh, I’m ready.
Raj: That’s what you’re wearing?
Penny: Um, yeah, what’s wrong with it?
=> Raj: Nothing, I was just hoping for something a little more, you know, redonkulous. (laughter)
=> Penny: Yeah, well, this is all the donkulous you’re gonna get. (laughter) Raj: Okey dokey, let’s roll. Alright, it’s time to raise the roof. Oo-ooh, oo-ooh.
(laughter)
The word “redonkulous” is a neologism coined by a TV series called The O.C.
The main character in that program employ the word quite often to refer to “things
significantly more absurd than ridiculous to an almost impossible extreme; without
possibility of serious consideration, or “fitted to excite absolute ridicule; intentionally
crazy and silly; completely absurd and laughable” (explanation comes from
http://www.thatsredonkulous.com/about/). Raj’s word choice clashes with his usual
style of language, but under the influence of alcohol, he becomes stimulated and uses
words that are more colloquial and slang-like. Also, Penny is seen wearing a
dark-colored dress, and Raj is not impressed by her outfit. He requests that Penny
should wear something “redonkulous” with a flirtatious tone. The audience laughs
because the intoxicated Raj is different from the sober one. The difference of styles
evokes laughter.
Penny is not too happy when she receives such a comment. She replies that this
is all the “donkulous” Raj’s going to get. The non-existent word “donkulous” is a
back-formation coinage. The neologism “redonkulous” is reanalyzed as “re +
donkulous”; by omitting the prefix “re-,” the new word “donkulous” is coined. One
cannot be sure what meaning and part of speech “donkulous” is, as this word is used
as a noun in the context, but one can see that Penny is playing with the neologism of
“redonkulous.” The audience can understand the playfulness, hence the laughter.