by Laser Potato August 23, 2004
Shiny, tiny little birds that occasionally hurl themselves into garages and die for some reason. They exist entirely on sugar and drink about half thier weight every day-jesus Christ, no wonder they're so hyper.
by Laser Potato August 21, 2004
A plot device that motivates the characters and advance the story, particularly one whose importance is accepted completely by the story's characters, yet from the audience's perspective it might be minimally explained or may test their suspension of disbelief if it is scrutinized. The device, usually an object, is common in films, especially thrillers.
It is important that the audience never actually see the MacGuffin. I dunno why.
The term "MacGuffin" was invented by Alfred Hitchcock; according to the Oxford English Dictionary, he explained the term in a 1939 lecture at Columbia University:
In regard to the tune, we have a name in the studio, and we call it the 'MacGuffin'. It is the mechanical element that usually crops up in any story. In crook stories it is always the necklace and in spy stories it is always the papers.
It is important that the audience never actually see the MacGuffin. I dunno why.
The term "MacGuffin" was invented by Alfred Hitchcock; according to the Oxford English Dictionary, he explained the term in a 1939 lecture at Columbia University:
In regard to the tune, we have a name in the studio, and we call it the 'MacGuffin'. It is the mechanical element that usually crops up in any story. In crook stories it is always the necklace and in spy stories it is always the papers.
Interviewed in 1966 by François Truffaut, Hitchcock illustrated the term "MacGuffin" with this story:
It might be a Scottish name, taken from a story about two men in a train. One man says, 'What's that package up there in the baggage rack?' And the other answers, 'Oh that's a McGuffin.' The first one asks 'What's a McGuffin?' 'Well' the other man says, 'It's an apparatus for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands.' The first man says, 'But there are no lions in the Scottish Highlands,' and the other one answers 'Well, then that's no McGuffin!' So you see, a McGuffin is nothing at all.
It might be a Scottish name, taken from a story about two men in a train. One man says, 'What's that package up there in the baggage rack?' And the other answers, 'Oh that's a McGuffin.' The first one asks 'What's a McGuffin?' 'Well' the other man says, 'It's an apparatus for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands.' The first man says, 'But there are no lions in the Scottish Highlands,' and the other one answers 'Well, then that's no McGuffin!' So you see, a McGuffin is nothing at all.
by Laser Potato July 15, 2008
1. A small cake of shortened bread leavened with baking powder or soda.
2. A thin, crisp cracker or cookie. (British)
3. A kind of unraised bread formed into flat cakes, and bakes hard, ie ship biscuit, sea biscuit.
2. A thin, crisp cracker or cookie. (British)
3. A kind of unraised bread formed into flat cakes, and bakes hard, ie ship biscuit, sea biscuit.
1. I'm gonna have some biscuits and gravy.
2. Biscuits and *WHAT?!*
3. I'm don't even bother to eat 'em anymore. I just use 'em to patch up the boat.
2. Biscuits and *WHAT?!*
3. I'm don't even bother to eat 'em anymore. I just use 'em to patch up the boat.
by Laser Potato August 24, 2004
1.) A type of grasshopper that periodically appears and eats all vegetation available before laying eggs and dying. It is edible.
2.) The harmless (but very noisy) periodic cicada, which emerges every 17 years. It, too, is edible.
3.)Any overly abundant and destructive or annoying entity. Not always edible.
2.) The harmless (but very noisy) periodic cicada, which emerges every 17 years. It, too, is edible.
3.)Any overly abundant and destructive or annoying entity. Not always edible.
by Laser Potato June 15, 2005
Where the partridge goes. Also, the trees they plant all over my neighborhood with flowers that bloom in the spring that look nice but SMELL HORRIBLE!!! AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGH!!!!
.....
Okay, I'm better now.
.....
Okay, I'm better now.
by Laser Potato August 21, 2004
(n.)A cool-tasting, aromatic herb that is virtually impossible to start from seed packets, but if you succeed it will invariably escape from its container, invade your garden, and transform your backyard (not to mention every backyard within the tri-state area) into a sea of minty goodness.
"Some more mint tea, dear?"
"I don't want any more mint tea!"
"Well there's mint jelly, lamb with mint sauce, mint candies, mint juliep, mint..."
"I don't want any more mint tea!"
"Well there's mint jelly, lamb with mint sauce, mint candies, mint juliep, mint..."
by Laser Potato June 29, 2006