Skip to main content

single word requests - "To science the sh*t out of something"


In The Martian movie, Matt Damon (Watney), when left stranded on Mars with very limited resources to survive, says:



Mark Watney: In the face of overwhelming odds, I'm left with only one option, I'm gonna have to science the shit out of this.



Apparently,




  1. Celebrity scientist, Neil Degrasse Tyson loved this quote. And so did I.




  2. A Quora post says



    Watney's a scientist. He's going to use scientific method to solve his problems. It's more obvious in the book - he does a lot of calculations. eg. He drives the rover around in circles logging how much energy it uses to test his hypothesis for carrying hab solar panels on a trailer, keeping within walking distance of the hab. He doesn't just do something and hope it works first time, like MacGyver ('80s TV show).





So you probably get the idea what it means to science the shit out of something.


That is, to practically experiment a lot (and a lot more), in this case, for survival; instead of simply hoping to survive by sheer luck.


1. What would be a better way to convey the same meaning? (too broad)




  1. Is there a better word to use as a verb here?




  2. Is it okay to use certain nouns (like science) in place of verbs? If so, what's the technique called?






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is 'efficate' a word in English?

I routinely hear the word "efficate" being used. For example, "The most powerful way to efficate a change in the system is to participate." I do not find entries for this word in common English dictionaries, but I do not have an unabridged dictionary. I have checked the OED (I'm not sure if it is considered unabridged), and it has no entry for "efficate". It does have an entry for "efficiate", which is used in the same way. Wordnik has an entry for "efficate" with over 1800 hits, thus providing some evidence for the frequency of use. I personally like the word and find the meaning very clear and obvious when others use it. If it's not currently an "officially documented" word, perhaps its continued use will result in it being better documented.
Post a Comment
Read more