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April 14[edit]

What does this word mean?[edit]

Mank scolds Orson Welles:

Mank: self-anointed savior-hyphenate

What does this word mean? Rizosome (talk) 17:23, 14 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

To anoint literally means "to cover with oil", but in a figurative sense it means to appoint or designate or ordain someone. It comes from the practice in some religions to use oil as a part of ordination ceremonies. Someone who is self-anointed just means "self-designated" or "declared one's self..." something, but the use of anoint has quasi-religious connotations. A savior is a religious figure meant to save other people from the consequences of sin, but can be used in a figurative sense as well. --Jayron 32 17:54, 14 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

To date, there have been 12 questions from this editor regarding the film Mank at this forum. It has now become so commonplace that the questioning party does not even need to preface the question with details as to source (In the Film), context (During the Scene), etc. It's just assumed they're referring to the film Mank. At what point should the pattern be re-directed to either the article Talk Page; or independent research when it comes to simple definition of words that have nothing to do with "Entertainment"? Just curious. I've seen far less repetition be halted and guided to more appropriate areas by editors at this desk and other desks in the past. Maineartists (talk) 21:22, 14 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

What we need is a Mank desk, somewhere far off in a small, dank, dark corner of Wikipedia that you need a double secret password to access. Clarityfiend (talk) 05:29, 15 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Methinks Rizosome is referring to "hyphenate". Not sure, especially since I've not seen the film, but may be talking about Welles's multiple talents? Savior-actor, savior-director, savior-screenwriter??? Clarityfiend (talk) 21:25, 14 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, that's what hyphenate means in Hollywood jargon. --184.147.181.129 (talk) 23:07, 14 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@Clarityfiend: It would be the same thing as if he had said, "Yeah yeah, mister writer-director-producer-savior-of-Hollywood, whatever you say."? Rizosome (talk) 06:10, 15 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

It is a bit confusing that in the rendering of the dialogue, "savior-hyphenate" is written with a hyphen. I think a more proper orthography is with a space, "self-anointed savior hyphenate", that is, "a hyphenate who anoints themselves as a savior". Compare the use of the label "savior screenwriter" applied to Herman Mankiewicz,^[1] simply meaning "screenwriter who can save the project from Welles' creative block. Welles was indeed himself an actor-director-screenwriter-producer. Without more context, I can't tell what form of imagined saviorship Mank imputes to Welles – savior of Hollywood, or savior of something less grand? --Lambiam 11:15, 15 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

A big part of the issue is that the work in question uses dialog that is riddled with language that is peculiar to the environment of the film; that being the Hollywood film industry, and even more specifically, the executive side of the film industry. Small, insular communities like that invariably develop their own linguistic peculiarities and idioms, known as shibboleths, that don't make sense outside of that community of speakers. These are not general English words, used as most speakers would. They are words used in a way peculiar to that environment. --Jayron 32 12:09, 15 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]