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Rocket surgeon

BlinkReader ๐Ÿšซ

This is from one good story here on SOL.

For me - it's hilarious - it's not rocket scientist neither brain surgeon.

What do you think?

And - can anyone guess (or find) story origin of this?

Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

@BlinkReader

Closest I can find is that Chris Rock used rocket surgery in a stand up routine.

Replies:   BlinkReader
BlinkReader ๐Ÿšซ

@Dominions Son

Sorry - no close, and no cigar :D

LonelyDad ๐Ÿšซ

I'm going to say 'Missed Clues' by autofocus.

Replies:   BlinkReader
BlinkReader ๐Ÿšซ

@LonelyDad

Sorry - no close, and no cigar (again) :D

For me it is more interesting usage of this words.
Either author has made mistake - or he deliberately used this term.

awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@BlinkReader

"And she tried, though she was no rocket surgeon."

AJ

BlinkReader ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

"It didn't take a rocket surgeon to know what she meant."
It's from Rotedrchens story "Wizard's Legacy" - at the end of chapter 1

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@BlinkReader

Google also found it in 'Love for Sale' by Meatbot. So the term isn't a SOLwhack, ie only found once on SOL.

AJ

Vincent Berg ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@awnlee jawking

"And she tried, though she was no rocket surgeon."

I'd probably have used "rocket sturgeon", just to emphasize it was an intended, rather than an accidental, usage.

Replies:   Dominions Son
Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

@Vincent Berg

I'd probably have used "rocket sturgeon"

I thought a rocket sturgeon was a type of flying fish. :)

Replies:   Vincent Berg
Vincent Berg ๐Ÿšซ

@Dominions Son

I thought a rocket sturgeon was a type of flying fish. :)

Very, very fast flying fish!

Not_a_ID ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@BlinkReader

And - can anyone guess (or find) story origin of this?

All I can do is tell you the expression predates my going through training in the US Navy in 1999. Going through a training pipeline common with the Navy Fire Controllmam rating(they're the guys that maintain most of the Navy's shipboard Missile Launch Systems, among other things), the "rocket surgery" joke was VERY commonly heard around parts of the Great Lakes "Great Mistakes" Naval Training Center. Which would lead me to presume it was in use "in the Fleet" at large as well by that time, if not earlier. It certainly was in use by the time I reached the regular fleet.

Just add that to the list of military terms/expressions finding ways into popular culture in cleverly insidious ways.

"Kilroy was here" (evidently there probably was a (Liberty) Ship Inspector who marked off areas he inspected with a "Kilroy" sign on doors/walls/whatever, American GI's enroute to Europe saw it, and decided to "take Kilroy with them" when they went into Europe)

"bought the farm"(death gratuity from WW1) to name a couple off hand.

Also, don't confuse the "Sea Chicken" (Sea Sparrow missle) with the "Chicken of the Sea" (Tuna Fish)

Replies:   BlinkReader
BlinkReader ๐Ÿšซ

@Not_a_ID

Uauuu!
Now we all learned something new - and valuable :)

Thank you Not_a_ID for sharing this little gem with us!

Replies:   Not_a_ID
Not_a_ID ๐Ÿšซ

@BlinkReader

Now we all learned something new - and valuable :)

To be clear, it was somewhat intended as a (soft irony) insult to call something "rocket surgery" and it was an intentional mashup of "rocket science" and "brain surgery."

Although for additional irony in this regards. Back in the 1990's and earlier, component level troubleshooting and repair wasn't uncommon on those systems. For the technician doing those repairs, the use of dental tools in particular, and surgical knives, was not unheard of, as those implements were designed to be both highly resilient and for VERY fine detail work.

So for someone with something of a medical background walking in on a technician effecting repairs, they might just wonder if they weren't trying to perform surgery on the electronics involved, as they were using many of the same implements.

Replies:   BlinkReader
BlinkReader ๐Ÿšซ

@Not_a_ID

For me it's very familiar.

In 80' we have repaired motherboards and other PC boards with much more primitive tools than dentists, so I know what you are writing about :)

richardshagrin ๐Ÿšซ

The eggs of sturgeon are caviar. I wonder what the eggs of a rocket sturgeon would be like? Explosive?

Replies:   Lugh
Lugh ๐Ÿšซ

@richardshagrin

If it's any help, I do know a "rocket scientist" (properly, aerospace engineer) that looks remarkably like Farah Fawcett.

Replies:   pcbondsman
pcbondsman ๐Ÿšซ

@Lugh

If it's any help, I do know a "rocket scientist" (properly, aerospace engineer) that looks remarkably like Farah Fawcett.

Her name wouldn't happen to be Jennlynn Swift (AKA Lear Jet Jenn) would it? (Wes Boyd's "Magic Carpet" and others). Nah, I guess not, Farah is a blonde.

awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

Your f*****g cat wreaked havoc in my salad vegetable patch. Now I'll have to be a rocket surgeon.

AJ

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