Pop-culture shibboleth?

[tzikeh]

Hey, y'all, check out this really interesting question at Ask MetaFilter:

Is there a word or a term for a pop-culture handshake?

If I wave my hand and tell you 'these aren't the droids you're looking for,' you might repeat me and walk away. If I say "Do you know how many time zones are in the Soviet Union" you might respond with something along the lines of "it's ridiculous, it's not even funny." People can go on for minutes just quoting the Simpsons at each-other.


We've absorbed a lot of pop culture, enough so that responding in reference comes easily and freely. Surely there must be some sort of term for this.

These are my pre-coffee suggestions.

If you're a MeFite, drop a few suggestions? If not, maybe comment here if you have some, and I'll comment again over there pointing at your suggestions?

Comments

[luminosity]

I know that lots of ... what are these called? are intrinsic to the group you're in, but these are the ones my family and I use on a daily basis.

"Phone's ringin', Dude."
"Thank you, Donny."

"I have a theory."
"It could be bunnies."

My two daughters have entire conversations using nothing but movie quotes. I guess it's like twins with a secret language. I don't watch the Simpsons, so I'm totally out in the cold there. LOL

[nestra.livejournal.com]

Many people I know use @@ as an emoticon for rolling your eyes.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

I know that lots of ... what are these called?

Yah, but what word or phrase might we come up with for that kind of pop-culture call-and-response. Something like shibboleth or secret handshake, but that means exactly these kind of exchanges.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know, but the "AT-AT" is a triple-joke incorporating that as well.

[carbonel]

I think of them as in-group references, which is only partially descriptive.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Sure - but that "in-group" is fast becoming a very large group. Terms created on the internet are absorbed scarily quickly by hundreds of thousands of web users; it's difficult to call that kind of thing an "in-group" reference. I think private jokes among small groups of friends work for your term, absolutely. But when just knowing the in-joke *is* the in-joke, what on earth do we call that?

[no-detective.livejournal.com]

An inter-joke?

...yeah, I need caffeine too. The best way to figure out what to call this phenomenon is to leave it to the experts - a.k.a. ask Stephen Fry.

[vass]

I think shibboleth covers it. Hey, cool, spellchecker recognises 'shibboleth'.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

It doesn't, though. - a shibboleth is a password. The question is what do you call an exchange of pop-culture references. It's going to have to be more of a phrase, like 'playing the dozens'.