Fun: Ebertisms

I find Roger Eberts movie reviews to be pretty hit or miss. Sometimes he gets it. Often he does not. But that doesn't mean that his glossary of movie terms (and a larger glossary on hosted by the Sun Times) isn't worth a read if you have nothing better to do.

Like his reviews, the glossary is hit or miss. Unlike the reviews, this is because the individual entries aren't usually written by Roger Ebert. Some examples:

Chamber Music: While the cop chambering a round before going to battle the bad guys is cliche, many armies and police forces do actually require a pistol to be carried with an empty chamber. This is to prevent accidental discharges in older weapons that lacked modern safeties. Since many places still have these weapons in their inventories, the training remains.

Clothes Make the Imposter: Actually, even in most secure locations, all you need to do is look like you fit in and people will assume you do. This is why most security training emphasized questioning people you don't recognize.

Doing Radio and Emergency Tour Guide: In real life, people say stupid things that are obvious all the time. Bill Engvall's "Here's Your Sign" comedy bit is all about that phenomenon.

I'm sure there are more, but I'm only up to "E" in the Sun Time glossary.