by niggamac July 14, 2006
Get the Nigger McMuffin mug.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
Get the macguffin mug.Related Words
Noun. Generic last name for someone (male or female) who is all fluff and no real substance. Does not live up to expectations or promises. Like a real mickey D's Mcmuffin… looks good, seems good, and maybe even smells good but nothing "good" is there in reality. All fluff and no substance.
Can also be used as an adjective i.e. "mcmuffined"
Can also be used as an adjective i.e. "mcmuffined"
Yup, Corey Mcmuffin didn't show up again even though he told us all last week he would.
Man that chick is a real mcmuffin, never gets back to me even tough she said she would
Man that chick is a real mcmuffin, never gets back to me even tough she said she would
by disgruntledfm November 18, 2015
Get the mcmuffin mug.Person 1: I'm going to slap your McMuffin!
Person 2: Hell, you could eat my McMuffin.
Person 1: Ummmm.... A'ight.
Person 2: Tonight. My apartment. 10 o' clock.
Person 1: Sweet.
Person 2: Hell, you could eat my McMuffin.
Person 1: Ummmm.... A'ight.
Person 2: Tonight. My apartment. 10 o' clock.
Person 1: Sweet.
by Unicornxcannibal March 5, 2011
Get the Slap your McMuffin mug.The superior. The best of its kind, not to be outdone by any other example of a similar thing, but isn't the actual thing by which the example is set.
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