So Very, Very Close …

Posted on May 27, 2009 by Jay F Guin


This is just ALL over the internet. We’d may as well laugh along with everyone else.

About Jay F Guin

My name is Jay Guin, and I’m a retired elder. I wrote The Holy Spirit and Revolutionary Grace about 18 years ago. I’ve spoken at the Pepperdine, Lipscomb, ACU, Harding, and Tulsa lectureships and at ElderLink. My wife’s name is Denise, and I have four sons, Chris, Jonathan, Tyler, and Philip. I have two grandchildren. And I practice law.
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18 Responses to So Very, Very Close …

  1. Alan says:
    May 28, 2009 at 1:52 am

    Well, I don't think that's what Jesus meant when he said we are not of this world. They seem to have missed the "wise as serpents" part. 😉

  2. smudge says:
    May 28, 2009 at 2:24 am

    LOL
    'Rocket surgery

    maybe they're thinking of docs attending to life on other planets

    actually, if they had got the phrase right [rocket science], it's quite catchy…

  3. Hal Jackson says:
    May 28, 2009 at 4:44 am

    Is rocket surgery more difficult than brain science?

  4. mattdabbs says:
    May 28, 2009 at 7:15 am

    Isn't that an old joke rather than a mistake/misprint? I am pretty sure that in intentionally done wrong out of humor. Just not very funny.

  5. David Himes says:
    May 28, 2009 at 7:48 am

    Uh-Oh, my uncle has worshipped at Sunny Hills for 50+ years. It’s probably his fault!!

  6. Keith Brenton says:
    May 28, 2009 at 9:51 am

    Cary's right. In fact, it's old enough that there's a scripted pun on it in 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" when Mr. Spock asks Dr. McCoy if he'd help perform surgery on a (rocket-propelled) torpedo.

  7. Keith Brenton says:
    May 28, 2009 at 9:58 am

    I lied! I lied so bad!

    Actually, I was wrong. It was 1991's Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.. Sorry.

  8. xray342 says:
    May 28, 2009 at 1:02 pm

    Watching a DVD in space isn't rocket science either. 🙂

  9. Drake Clark says:
    May 28, 2009 at 1:11 pm

    "Rocket surgery" is the old joke… sorry, this isn't a "FAIL".

  10. smudge says:
    May 28, 2009 at 1:11 pm

    there seems a lot of confusion

    the actual 'joke' IS "it's not rocket science" which most may have heard of [hence using it on a board like that]
    so… sad someone had obviously got mixed up

    rocket surgery is not a well known phrase, and is quite meaningless to people

    sad that the discussion has descended to the nitty gritty of the phrase too LOL

    Jay, it WAS funny LOL

  11. Cary says:
    May 28, 2009 at 2:18 pm

    This is an old joke that has been around for a long time, and is actually a fail on the creator of this image. It’s been used in movies too.

  12. Cary says:
    May 28, 2009 at 10:45 pm

    Smudge, "rocket surgery" is an old joke that combines "rocket science" and "brain surgery," obviously. Nobody was mixed up here, it's just that you're right that not everyone knows the joke, apparently.

  13. Jay Guin says:
    May 29, 2009 at 5:20 pm

    It turns out that the Urban Dictionary http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ro… defines "rocket surgery" as —

    n.) a play on words which mixes two common metaphors: "rocket science" and "brain surgery"
    A line in a hilarious Chris Rock comedy act states that one shouldn't eat green meat. No kidding. It doesn't take a degree in rocket surgery to figure out something like that! ;oD

    DoubleTongued http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary… gives this —

    n. a task requiring intelligence or higher education; a difficult undertaking. Subjects: English
    Editorial Note: Often used jocularly in negative constructions similar to “It’s not rocket surgery.” Etymological Note: A blend of rocket science and brain surgery.

    Citations: 1994 [Dee Dee Hawkins] Usenet: alt.prose (Jan. 29) “Twins”: He usually mutes or ignores the commercials, but one day he finds himself drawn in, watching people do the things he’d always imagined he would do: trapeze artistry, rocket surgery, paleo-indian lifestyles. 1994 Francis X. Clines New York Times (Aug. 7) “On Sunday In Boot Camp, Rough Drafts Get Fit to Film” p. 35: “In a way, movie making is rocket surgery,” Mr. Gordon says of the Hollywood melange that beguiles him so. “It’s a very quirky art form that intersects with business.” 2005 Jim Sullinger @ Topeka, Kan. Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Kan.-Mo.) (July 3) “Legislative Lingo”: One legislator, mixing metaphors in referring to a simple concept, called it “rocket surgery.”

    There are also some YouTube songs by that name — all really, really bad.

    Evidently it's a common joke in some parts of the country. (Not around here.)

  14. smudge says:
    May 29, 2009 at 9:35 pm

    Evidently it’s a common joke in some parts of the country. (Not around here.)

    quite.
    The question is: what did the creator of the church board mean to say
    because the common phrase that would make sense of the board is
    'it's not rocket science'

    I still think he/she mixed phrases up, and that it is funny

  15. rp says:
    May 30, 2009 at 8:29 am

    Smudge,
    'Rocket Surgery' is entirely intentional. Just because you have no frame of reference doesn't mean the creator of the sign made a mistake. The humor is in the irony of combining the two phrases that imply intelligence that results in a phrase that appears ignorant…it pokes fun at itself. It may not be funny to you, but its not because its an uncommon phrase. If it's made its way into dictionaries, then there is a measure of shared understanding that exists in culture. .

  16. Donald says:
    June 7, 2009 at 3:38 am

    Totally intentional. Totally hilarious. Totally what we need to help change perception of CofC in community. Koodows!

  17. Todd says:
    June 7, 2009 at 11:02 am

    Now what we need is lifetime care for the terminally humor challenged.

    So bright, so brainey, and yet so humourless.

    So sad…

  18. Pat says:
    June 7, 2009 at 6:17 pm

    Good grief! I got it, and I thought it was funny. That is, until the verbiage of dissection took out the fun! Better luck next time, Jay.

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