Geeky Analogy
A character (often a Nerd) explains something using a reference that only another Nerd could understand.
Usually along the lines of:
Character A: "I need advice about _______."
Character B: "Remember when ________ fought _______ in issue 24? That's what you need to do!"
Character A: "I feel like _________ when he was forced to ________ in episode 57 of ______."
Comics
- Dave does this a lot in Narbonic, although since he works for a mad scientist, his analogies with Star Trek and Marvel Comics are usually highly appropriate.
Film
- Marvin uses one in Daddy Day Care when the guys tell him they're shutting down the day care center, comparing it to when Spock betrayed Kirk in Star Trek V the Final Frontier.
Literature
Live Action TV
- The Trio (and later just Andrew) in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. All the time.
- Inverted in Drake and Josh when Josh teaches Drake about atoms and molecules by comparing it to guitar chords.
- Another inversion in WKRP in Cincinnati; Venus teaches a gang leader about the structure of the atom using gang references.
- Generally how the main characters of The Big Bang Theory explain anything.
- Eric Forman would usually compare his problems with those of Luke Skywalker.
Theater
- In The Book of Mormon, Elder Cunningham rationalizes concepts of The Book of Mormon to himself and explains them to the Africans using Star Wars and Lord of the Rings references.
Cunningham: You mean The Bible is a trilogy and the Book of Mormon is Return of the Jedi?
Web Original
- This quote from bash.org
SergioThree: There's other fish in the sea, man, she's just a girl
Beatsfromkorea: No dude, that's bullshit.
Beatsfromkorea: Think of it this way. if your precious copy of street fighter third strike broke and i told you "it's ok man, there's other games in the sea. here, play mortal kombat instead" what would you say? you'd be like, "fuck that, gimme third strike."
SergioThree: ...
SergioThree: You just reached me on a level that I never thought possible
Western Animation
- The Simpsons: Martin uses an old-timey reference which the creators need to put up a subtitle to explain, because Martin uses the word in its original meaning. Individually we are weak, like a single twig, but as a bundle we form a mighty faggot. fag-got (fag' - et) n. a bundle of sticks for fuel. (Fr. fagot, a bundle of sticks).