shufitz' recent posting on narratological terminology go me to browsing Wikipedia. Wandering off from eucatastrophe 'characterized by a sudden happy ending', I came across deus ex machina, for which plural see subject line, literally 'god from the machine' (actors playing gods gods in ancient Greek and Roman theater were lowered onto the stage by a contraption (the machina). There are character shields and the stormtrooper effect. The former are "plot devices ... that prevent important characters from dying or being seriously injured at dramatically inconvenient moments" and the latter are "cliché[s] in works of fiction where minor characters (cannon fodder) are unrealistically ineffective in combat against more important characters (almost always the protagonists "equipped" with character shields)". I did not know these two terms by name only by observing them in works of fiction. There is a term which I knew redshirt (character): "a stock character, used frequently in science fiction but also other genres, whose sole purpose is to die violently soon after being introduced". Related to dei ex machinis is Hitchcock's term MacGuffin as "a plot device that motivates the characters and advances the story, but has little other relevance to the story". I seem to remember that the critic, Roger Ebert, was at work on a dictionary of absurd plot devices and movie clichés like all bobms no matter where placed must have a large LED with a countdown sequence on it to increase the suspence in a scene before the hero's eucatastrophic wire-clipping with one second left on the clock.

It seems that the term, "pawn" fits nicely here, and certainly operates similarly whether in chess or theatre. A pawn can either be cannon fodder (typically) or eucatastrophic if it gets to the other side of the board.

With all respect, zmj, I wouldn't agree that character shield, stormtrooper effect and redshirt (character) are legitimate terms. The wikipedia cites seem to be just the enthusiasm of Star Trek fans discussing their obsession and using their "in" jargon.

The terms don't seem to have spread beyond the community: there are few ghits for character shield(s) or stormtrooper effect. (You can't easily count ghits for redshirt in this sense, because they are swamped by ghits for the term in its sense in collegiate athletics.)

MacGuffin, however, does seem to have entered the mainstream vocabulary.

"pawn"

Don't you mean pwn, Asa?

The terms don't seem to have spread beyond the community

Funny. I've actually used redshirt before in conversation. My interlocutor knew exactly what I was talking about. I have a more difficult time with people when I use linguistic terminology. I'd suggest that eucatastrophe might seem more likely because the people using it are academics and Tolkien was famous.

I've just thought of another esoteric term from the Star Trek community, Picard Maneuver (last few lines in the entry), though my wife and I call it the Picard tug (ideolectal variation).

[QUOTE]Originally posted by zmjezhd:
"pawn"

Don't you mean pwn, Asa?

Awesome truthiness
Lake Superior State University’s 2006 list of words banished “for mis-use, over-use and general uselessness”:
— Gitmo
— Combined celebrity names
— Awesome
— Gone or went missing
— Pwn or pwned, a misspelling of “own” used by online video gamers
— Now playing in theaters
— We’re pregnant
— Undocumented alien
— Armed robbery gone bad or drug deal gone bad
— Truthiness
— Ask your doctor
— Chipotle
— i-anything
— Search
— Healthy food
— Boasts

Great minds think alike, Asa.

I've only used redshirt when talking about sports teams, but then I am not sure I've ever used that great word interlocutor either. So many words; so little time to use them all.

quote:

words banished “for mis-u

When I was in graduate school, before personal computers, students were alloted time on the university computers. Certain vulgar words were blocked. One refined visitin English professor, who didn't realize this, was frustrated when he couldn't enter a perfectly good word. He was trying to abbreviate "title."

quote:

He was trying to abbreviate "title."

Let us hope that there was no department of ornothological studies there.