Hacker News Reader

Comment by nomilk | Hacker News Reader

I feel dumb but I’d not previously made the Ask Jeeves and Jeeves from P.G. Wodehouse novels connection!

And I’ve just made the Woodhouse from Archer connection!

It is absolutely wild and baffling to me that people don’t make connections like that, and so I wonder what kind of equally obvious (to other people) connections I haven’t made.

This happens to me with words I know every few years.

I think I was in my 30s when I realized rational numbers are numbers that can be expressed as a ratio. Mind blown.

A ratio of integers to be pedantic.

Archer has a whole load of obscure literary references that are easy to miss.

e.g. in the very first episode, the flight attendant's dog is named Abelard

> The name Abelard is a reference to Pierre Abélard, the French philosopher and monk, who is famous for his work in the fields of dialectic and theology, along with his tragic romance with Héloise d’Argenteuil. Additionally, Abélard was known for the studies of the Greeks, which is referenced when Abelard (the dog) "laughs" at Sterling's Greek joke.

You can find a list of cultural references here: https://archer.fandom.com/wiki/Cultural_References

I first came across Abelard and Héloïse from an episode of The Sopranos: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentimental_Education_(The_Sop...

The episode title itself is also a literary reference. I’m sure there are many cultural references that went over my head while watching the show; I really should watch it again.

In your defense, the Jeeves character became part of the zeitgeist on its own, as the generic perfect butler.

I knew “Jeeves” decades before I knew (and came to love) Wodehouse.

He's a valet, but if need arises, he can buttle with the best of them.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com