A literary element that, at first, seems to have no purpose but is later revealed to be important to the plot. This is commonly thought of as a parallel of foreshadowing, but it is more properly interpreted as "do not include any unnecessary elements in a story."
The return of Carmelita Spats in The Slippery Slope after her seemingly unnecessary appearance in The Austere Academy is an example of Chekhov's gun.
"One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it." -Anton Chekhov
A Chekhov’s Firing Squad is when a TV show or movie has almost no plot in the first several episodes, and then proceeds to pull all triggers at once. The way that this turns out is a show feeling bland, with presumably filler episodes for most of the season, though these episode actually build foreshadowing and silent plot. These small, unnoticed details go completely unheard or said, until they all hit you at once like a freight train.
If a ball-gag appears in a work of erotica, one or more characters must use said ball-gag before the story's end. Variation of Chekhov's "gun on the mantle." Bonus points if you put the ball-gag on a mantle.
That ball-gag hasn't been used yet, but it seems important - it must be a Chekhov's Ball-Gag!
Nickname given to bales of marijuana thrown overboard or out of airplanes. Origin is reportedly from members of the US Coast Guard in the area of Southern Florida.
A sunburn or suntan focused on the left arm. It is caused by the left side of the body being the only half that gets exposed to sunlight while driving. Presumably, it would be located on the right side of the body in countries where they drive on the left side of the road.
I had a trucker's tan after driving for 10 straight hours on a sunny day.
British slang for a scientist or technical expert, esp . when the speaker is not certain of the expert’s specific field of study. Not necessarily derogatory, but typically used by persons without a technical background. In the US, the equivalent would be “egghead”, “squint”, or “geek.”
Origin of the word is unknown. Started sometime in World War 2. Given the typical evolution of British slang, could easily have started because what these experts did was confusing or “baffling” to the common person.
When you have to pee in a movie but don’t want to miss anything, and must do the following mental equation: will the amount I have to pee cause enough discomfort to diminish my attention capacity for the remainder of the movie to an extent which is greater than the amount of the movie I would miss by making a mad dash to the restroom.
I saw Satantango last night, wonderful film but by the 5th hour I had to start doing peecalculus.