Slang Word-Coiners

[Drew Danielson]

"James A. Landau" wrote:
>
> Two other science fiction shows: "Mork and Mindy" contributed "Ork calling Mork" (I had a boss who liked to say to me "Earth calling Jim").


Being a member of the presumed target demographic of "Mork and Mindy" at
the time it was on TV (the 8-14 age group), I can attest that the sense
conveyed by, "Mork calling Ork"* differs from that of "Earth calling
Jim".  With this one, I usually hear, "Earth to Jim", sometimes followed
by, "come in Jim, can you read me".  Naturally, this is an ironical
treatment, using two-way radio jargon to point to the fact that the
addressee appears to mentally distant or otherwise distracted from an
event at hand.  When Mork called Ork, it was just a narrative device to
begin the show's summation, in the context of a report from Mork to the
home office.

I can't attest that this is the source, naturally, but I hear David
Bowie's (the British glam-rocker, not the BYU prof) _Space Oddity_ in
the "Earth to Jim" thing:

"Ground Control to Major Tom
Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?"

For what it's worth,
Drew


* When Ork called Mork the statement - I believe - was "Orson [Mork's
boss] calling Mork".