It's like a what in here?

September 22, 2005 10:27 AM

DoctorWhoFilter: in the UK we have a TV show called Doctor Who, in which this dude with a long scarf travels through time in what is essentially a small garden shed called a TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space). More extraordinary than it's time travelling ability though, the TARDIS is actually bigger on the inside - you walk into small garden shed to find huge room the size of a small television studio. Hence, in the UK when you, for example, get into a car that looks kinda small but is actually incredibly roomy inside, one might say, "bloody hell, it's like a TARDIS in here." So the question is, is there an American equivalent?
posted by forallmankind to Writing & Language (27 answers total)

At circuses, a regular spectacle is (or at least, used to be) a tiny car pulling up and a dozen or so clowns piling out of it. So, maybe "it's like a clown car"?
posted by cog_nate at 10:31 AM on September 22, 2005

What cognate said - it would be known as a clown car.
posted by unixrat at 10:35 AM on September 22, 2005

Well, you have to understand that everything in America (including Americans) is big on the outisde. So the whole concept is irrelevant here...
posted by curtm at 10:36 AM on September 22, 2005

I'm a brit living in the US (7 years now). All I can remember hearing is... "It looks bigger in the inside than it does on the outside."

Not quite what you were looking for though I guess?
posted by schwa at 10:37 AM on September 22, 2005

Never heard the clown car comparison either...

Dr. Who is pretty popular here (esp. among the geek crowd) so Tardis would stand a fair chance of being understood.
posted by schwa at 10:40 AM on September 22, 2005 [1 favorite]

Clown car here as well.

Semi-related, I heard something refered to as a '5 1/2 Minute Hallway' (ala House of Leaves, where a hallway appears that takes five and a half minutes to cross no matter how fast you go) for a short walk that turned out much longer.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 10:47 AM on September 22, 2005

"It looks bigger in the inside than it does on the outside."

That's exactly what I would say except that I would say "on" the inside rather than "in" the inside. If someone used the clown car reference I would know what they are talking about but I don't think it's common usage.
posted by Carbolic at 10:48 AM on September 22, 2005

Clown car was the first thing that came to mind when I read the question (though I must admit that curtm is right on the money, too).
posted by necessitas at 10:49 AM on September 22, 2005

Clown car, definitely. Although I rarely hear the expression used when people get in to a car or walk in to a room. More for when someone is removing lots of stuff from a small bag, box, suitcase, etc.
posted by junkbox at 10:49 AM on September 22, 2005

I have never heard 'clown car' used. I have however heard Tardis quite a few times. ] old school geek [
posted by mischief at 10:54 AM on September 22, 2005

I've heard "burning clown car", as a number of clown car acts usually had a fire department/seltzer bottle theme. But in the States you could say "TARDIS", and more than a few people would get the reference.
posted by Smart Dalek at 10:58 AM on September 22, 2005

Clown car is close, but is not an accurate description of the "wow, it's bigger in here than I thought" reaction you described.

I have heard (and used) the clown car analogy when you see tons of people/things exiting a space, rather than when you enter a space.

It's a minute distinction, but I don't think I would ever go somewhere and say "gee, this is pretty big. It's like a clown car in here."
posted by AgentRocket at 11:00 AM on September 22, 2005

I think if you were talking to people of a certain age or persuasion, yes, people would understand TARDIS over here. If I, a twenty-something guy, were to say that to pretty much any of my friends, they'd stare at me blankly and wonder if I just called their living room a retarded person.

I second the "it looks bigger from the inside." It simply doesn't come up often enough in conversation to merit shorthand (see curtm).
posted by chrominance at 11:06 AM on September 22, 2005

The Star Trek holodeck is very similar in effect to the Tardis, but very different in principle. The holodeck, as I understand it, uses transporter technology to move matter and its occupants around, to make it seem to those inside that they are in an infinitely large space.

Yeah, I know this stuff isn't real, but it should be.
posted by veedubya at 11:55 AM on September 22, 2005

A couple of American pop culture bits that occurred to me, but which aren't necessarily used in popular conversation:

1. Snoopy's doghouse
2. Oscar The Grouch's trash can

Both are sometimes played as being vast and full of wondrous surprises (never seen on camera, of course), despite being very small places. Oscar, for example, has a pet elephant living in his home.
posted by briank at 11:59 AM on September 22, 2005

It seems not a day goes by that I don't hear someone refer to such a space as "Dimensionally Transcendental."
posted by miniape at 12:20 PM on September 22, 2005

To me "clown car" makes it sound like the object is much too small for the number of items (or persons) stuffed uncomfortably inside, so I don't think it's an appropriate American version of the TARDIS comment.

If you want to make up your own version, and keep the geeky sci-fi cachet, I'd go with "Damn, it's like a holodeck in here!"
posted by caution live frogs at 12:22 PM on September 22, 2005

Snoopy's doghouse was on one of the cartoons. It had a bar inside, complete with pool tables and a piano.

I think I'd probably just say it seemed much bigger inside than it looked. If I remembered Snoopy's doghouse I might go with that for comparison, but I don't know how many people would understand the reference. Probably I'd get a blank look (seems the Great Pumpkin episode plays every year, but I don't remember Snoopy's doghouse in that one).
posted by Tuwa at 12:24 PM on September 22, 2005

I'm from the US; They used to show doctor who all the time on PBS stations - I grew up watching it (actually, it was one of the only shows I watched). I probably would say (and have said) "it's like a TARDIS in here". But I might be an exception.
posted by advil at 1:29 PM on September 22, 2005

I'm a 30 yr old American female. I too was watched Dr. Who as I grew up. I have been known to refer to the tardis, especially upon seeing Phone Booths.
posted by Constant Reader at 1:43 PM on September 22, 2005

Also, similarly to the clown car: Fibber McGee's closet

But that's probably lost on most people under the age of 50.
posted by briank at 1:44 PM on September 22, 2005

It's like a Deveel Bazaar pavillion.
posted by Caviar at 7:41 PM on September 22, 2005

I'm neither from the US nor from the UK, but personally I always call things like that a "Mary Poppins bag". (Nobody ever knows what I mean if I say that, though, so maybe I should try "clown car" or "TARDIS".)
posted by easternblot at 8:55 PM on September 22, 2005

It's Dr. Mary "Who" Poppins' clown-TARDIS bag?
posted by hattifattener at 10:02 PM on September 22, 2005

I'm American and I say TARDIS in such situations. (F'r'instance, I once told my husband we didn't have enough space for all the frozen food he wanted to buy-- "Honey, it's a freezer, not a TARDIS.")
posted by Shoeburyness at 11:06 PM on September 22, 2005

Er, I think there's a Paris Hilton joke in here somewhere....*I'll get me coat*
posted by Radio7 at 11:58 PM on September 22, 2005

Anybody else think of Groucho's stateroom from "A Night at the Opera"? (He even had a manicurist in there!)
posted by rob511 at 6:01 AM on September 23, 2005