I now pronounce you Nerd and Nerd.

May 27, 2010 9:41 AM

Help me come up with a nerdy inscription for my cousin's wedding present.

My cousin and his fiancee are huge nerds (examples: they're using WALL-E and EVE as cake toppers; they've convinced their officiant to include "by the power of Grayskull" in the ceremony, in English and Mandarin). I want to come up with an inscription for their present that celebrates their love in a charming way, and is also incredibly nerdy. So, I'm appealing to you, hivemind- help me nerd up this wedding present!

(Bonus points for physics references, or obscure languages such as Quenya or Bajoran.)

posted by TheWhiteSkull to Human Relations (22 answers total)

What is the present?

I like "So say we all," myself. But it sounds like that might not be nerdy enough.
posted by cereselle at 9:43 AM on May 27, 2010

Just wondering what is the wedding present? A pair of pewter goblets would inspire me differently from a sterling silver picture frame... or just think of the assortment of things you could put on napkin rings...
posted by aimedwander at 9:45 AM on May 27, 2010

Write something in binary!
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:47 AM on May 27, 2010

In Bill and Ted, there's a line that I've always felt describes how I think a relationship should work:

"Be excellent to each other."
posted by Tomorrowful at 9:47 AM on May 27, 2010 [8 favorites]

Is it just me or does "Live long and prosper" just seem too obvious for this situation. Only because "Luke, I'm your father" might be for when they have their first kid.
posted by thorny at 9:49 AM on May 27, 2010

Only you wouldn't use Luke, I'm your father if you want to maintain any nerd cred.
posted by Anali at 10:05 AM on May 27, 2010 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: The present is just a gift card- they haven't registered and most of the relatives on the Chinese side are just giving money anyway. This is partly why I wanted a particularly apt inscription.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 10:05 AM on May 27, 2010

Best answer: F=G(m1m2/r2)

All points of mass are drawn to one another.

Newton was a poet.
posted by French Fry at 10:10 AM on May 27, 2010 [16 favorites]

Princess Bride: "Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam. And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva. So tweasure your wuv. "
posted by anti social order at 10:17 AM on May 27, 2010 [8 favorites]

The present is just a gift card

+2 vs Shopping
posted by EndsOfInvention at 10:28 AM on May 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

Instead of the dollar (assuming it's US currency) amount, list it as XP.
posted by GJSchaller at 10:44 AM on May 27, 2010

With great gift cards come great new towels.
posted by Skot at 11:17 AM on May 27, 2010

do {
have_and_hold ();
love_and_cherish ();
} until (death == true)

(I did not make that up, I think I saw it on Cakewrecks or Wedinator or something like that. Maybe someone with knowledge of C/C++ can make sure that's correct? I think this way the loop would still process once more after the bride and groom died thus creating zombie lovin'.)
posted by geekchic at 11:28 AM on May 27, 2010 [2 favorites]

Best answer: A couple of good quotes from the episode of DS9 where Rom and Leeta get married:

"Any marriage where the female is allowed to speak and wear clothing is doomed to failure." -Quark

"The problems of two newlyweds are but a small thread in the tapestry of galactic events. You might not understand that today, or even tomorrow. But someday you will. So get on that shuttle. And don't look back."- Rom
posted by nomad at 11:40 AM on May 27, 2010 [2 favorites]

"Good luck on your ultimate quest."
posted by little_c at 11:42 AM on May 27, 2010

Whatever inscription you pick, be sure to put it in a recordable audio card with an appropriate sound effect.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:52 AM on May 27, 2010

geekchic:

That's good, but you need to update the death variable as well.

do {
have_and_hold();
love_and_cherish();
death=update_status();
} while (death == FALSE);

of course, this will allow for zombie loving if death==true on the first iteration.

to avoid:

death=FALSE;
while (death==FALSE)
{
have_and_hold();
love_and_cherish();
death=update_status();
}

or to be pedantic:
do {
death=update_status();

if (death == FALSE)
{
have_and_hold();
love_and_cherish();
}

} while (death == FALSE);
posted by MustardTent at 12:27 PM on May 27, 2010 [5 favorites]

Er, no code. Especially not with redundant "== True" in it.

+1 on nomad's suggestion. It may be obscure enough that you include a photo of Quark and a speech bubble.
posted by cmiller at 12:56 PM on May 27, 2010

Only you wouldn't use Luke, I'm your father if you want to maintain any nerd cred.

Nor "Search your feelings, you know it to be true" unless you want their reaction to be a despairing "NOOOOO!".
posted by ersatz at 3:35 PM on May 27, 2010

By Grabthar's Hammer - what a wedding

Never give up, never surrender!
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 3:48 PM on May 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

this is not an inscription, but would be a gloriously nerdy and inexpensive thing to toss in with your gift: get them return address labels with, in addition to their postal address, the exact latitude and longitude of their home. (you can find this out on google maps)

if they are into battlestar galactica, "so say we all" is a nice touch, as is cutting the corners off the card (all the paperwork in bsg was octagonal).

if they are "lost" nerds, a card with a dharma initiative symbol might be fun.
posted by thinkingwoman at 10:09 PM on May 27, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions! Funny that just after posting this, the bride and groom both informed me that they were including "so say we all" in the vows and were expecting the guests to respond in kind.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:08 AM on May 28, 2010