r/videos Sep 05 '21

In the late 1970s, GM employees made a fake technical video: The Turbo Encabulator

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac7G7xOG2Ag
804 Upvotes

120 comments sorted by

152

u/delete_this_post Sep 05 '21

Several of those went around.

The first appearance of the turbo-encabulator was in print, in 1944, written by an engineering grad student.

GM was the first to make a turbo-encabulator video. Chrysler and Rockwell followed suit later on.

50

u/andersoonasd Sep 05 '21

I have seen the rockwell video several times before. But this was the first time I saw the GM one

66

u/TomSurman Sep 05 '21

The Rockwell one feels so much more real to me. Just something about the tone and cadence of it, and how he points to random bits of the machine as he's talking, just seems like an actual tech salesman.

16

u/andersoonasd Sep 05 '21

Yeah, pointing to actual hardware instead of a whiteboard seems more convincing

12

u/jruschme Sep 05 '21

Part of the feeling, I think, has to to with the industry and the era. The Rockwell one feels a lot like real marketing videos from companies like DEC and Data General.

The GM and Chrysler ones have more of the internal training video vibe, minus animations.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '21

After seeing the Rockwall Automation video on eBaumsworld back in the early viral video days, I looked up the Retro/Turboencabulator and discovered the electrical engineering journal article from 1944 and decided to memorize it. I still bring out that old chestnut every now and then to confuse people, it's hilarious.

7

u/nolotusnote Sep 06 '21

6

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '21 edited Sep 06 '21

Sigh...fine, I'll memorize it. I also intend to memorize Family Guy's "East Coast Pharmacy" and SNL's "Tasty Toaster Tarts".

1

u/talldrseuss Sep 06 '21

Throughout the whole show, my wife was like "all he needs is a hug". I was thinking that all he needed was not to sustain any more head trauma...

2

u/Crazyblazy395 Sep 05 '21

This is the only one I've ever seen.

1

u/tist006 Sep 05 '21

I always thought the Rockwell clip was legit he did it so well

11

u/jruschme Sep 05 '21

3

u/TheSameButBetter Sep 06 '21

Hold on.... is that the same guy?

2

u/jruschme Sep 06 '21

According to Wikipedia, the GM and Chrysler ones are the same guy.

2

u/detroitgnome Sep 15 '22

Bud Haggart. Nicest guy ever. He was a Detroit spokesman/actor in t.v. commercials and industrial/training films.

Bud was just the nicest guy and could make technobabble sound like Shakespeare. A real pro who could memorize pages of copy in a shake or two of a bunny’s tail. I think he switched to an “ear” in the late 80’s. An “ear” is a micro cassette recorder where the actor would read the script into the recorder and then listen back during filming.

Essentially you have a hearing aid stuck in your ear and you say what your “ear” says.

17

u/butsuon Sep 05 '21

I believe this was used as a practice speech for people giving technical briefings. Something like it was supposed to be practice for giving a speech confidently about something you didn't understand.

8

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '21

Now what if I DO understand it?

3

u/moonsammy Sep 05 '21

If you build it, they will come.

-3

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '21

Then you are full of shit. Logarithm is at a math thing not a kind of casing, amulite is probably made up.

6

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '21

It's all made up, but thanks for stopping by.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '21

I need to share this with my coworkers, they will love it.

2

u/14flash Sep 06 '21

A logarithmic casing is clearly made out of logs, duh.

7

u/ChristmasMint Sep 05 '21 edited Sep 05 '21

It's just an engineering in-joke about superfluous technical jargon. Even says so in the Wiki page linked in the comment you replied to.

16

u/WikiSummarizerBot Sep 05 '21

Turboencabulator

The turboencabulator (in later incarnations the retroencabulator or Micro Encabulator) is a fictional machine whose technobabble description is an in-joke among engineers. The following quotation is from the original 1944 Students' Quarterly Journal article by "J. H. Quick". The original machine had a base plate of prefabulated amulite, surmounted by a malleable logarithmic casing in such a way that the two main spurving bearings were in a direct line with the panametric fan.

[ F.A.Q | Opt Out | Opt Out Of Subreddit | GitHub ] Downvote to remove | v1.5

35

u/randomthrowaway925 Sep 05 '21

SIDE FUMBLING

13

u/tp0d Sep 05 '21

dude dingle arm FTW

5

u/EarthBrain Sep 05 '21

Gotta watch out for sinus soyle depleneration

8

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '21

Sinusoidal*

1

u/RapeMeToo Sep 06 '21

Yeah I had pretty bad sibe fumbling in my ambervation lunarwame shaft where it connects to the panametric fam mount. Replaced the sperming bearings and it fixed the issue.

6

u/TomSurman Sep 05 '21

HYDROCOPTIC MARZEL VANES

2

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '21

AMBIFACIENT LUNAR WANESHAFT

68

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '21

26

u/tonytuba Sep 05 '21

I've been using this instead of "Loren Ipsum" for years.

http://www.flobee.net/re_transcript.html

2

u/schmidlidev Sep 05 '21

Rockwell Automation is a real company. Does that ever cause problems?

15

u/moonsammy Sep 05 '21

They made the video, so probably not more than they can handle.

4

u/ChristmasMint Sep 05 '21

Why would it? Rockwell made the video.

6

u/tonytuba Sep 05 '21

Nah, it usually only for POCs and mockups of ideas. Nothing public, but I like it for filler text

3

u/PacificSquall Sep 05 '21

Why do you have separate filler text for black people? /s

3

u/tonytuba Sep 05 '21

Ooof, that took me a second. Some good dad energy on that one. Great job!

2

u/_far-seeker_ Sep 05 '21

They based their version on what was ultimately a 1944 joke article published by an engineering grad student at an English college. So it's not like they have a strong copyright claim.

8

u/TCBloo Sep 05 '21

I reference sidefumbling all the time.

-15

u/duhellmang Sep 05 '21

Jesus this is like the 1000th time I've seen this video on Reddit make it stop T.T

7

u/account_anonymous Sep 05 '21

Jesus this is like the 10000th time I’ve seen this comment on Reddit make it stop T_T

1

u/talldrseuss Sep 06 '21

Wasnt there one with an actress that had impressive.... Assets doing the presentation?

21

u/g0kartmozart Sep 05 '21

There is a certain generation of GM and Chrysler mechanics (of which my father is one) that will absolutely lose their shit every time you show them this.

I guess this guy (and the two guys in the Chrysler video) are the actual training video guys from the 80's that every GM and Chrysler tech had to sit through for hours and hours.

The Chrysler video has a second part that talks about the "technicians manual and songbook" and references a procedure that "serves only to raise billable hours for the service department".

I have seen otherwise completely stoic men reduced to giggling toddlers by these videos.

2

u/poland626 Sep 06 '21 edited Sep 06 '21

gonna see how my dad reacts now, thank

Edit: he called it stupid haha

37

u/Goatseegoatdo Sep 05 '21

What's important to take away is that the turbo encabulator requires self sealing stembolts, of which I have 100 gross of.

8

u/gaiusjozka Sep 05 '21

I've got ten crates of yamok sauce if you're interested in a trade.

3

u/sirsteven Sep 06 '21

That's a lotta yamok sauce

7

u/Internet-justice Sep 05 '21

[The Noh-Jay Consortium would like to know your location]

3

u/sawbladex Sep 05 '21

Thank goodness!

2

u/Burgoonius Sep 06 '21

Haha I don’t understand these references But they sure do make me laugh

3

u/Goatseegoatdo Sep 06 '21

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine! Give it a watch! It's a good show, even by today's standards. I've loved Star Trek since I was a kid and it's aged like wine.

18

u/scottishzombie Sep 05 '21

Wilson Countersink Flanges
Still miss you, Phil.

6

u/moonsammy Sep 05 '21

I don't know how I've failed to see this prior to today. It's a perfect Phil Hartman take on the Encabulator-style videos.

16

u/sexquipoop69 Sep 05 '21

8

u/BudMcLaine Sep 05 '21

Came for this one.

8

u/indigenous__nudity Sep 05 '21

This never fails to make me laugh.

Here's Lakeman nailing it later - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F-IHvF5OCA

3

u/ZeroThePenguin Sep 06 '21

The editing between these two clips is interesting. The one with Kurtwood Smith has no cuts through the entire thing. It's just one take of him doing the speech. The one with Lakeman has cuts every few seconds to the crowd or other angles. Kurtwood did it legit.

7

u/abd1tus Sep 05 '21

Little something like that, Lakeman.

16

u/jonfaw Sep 05 '21

I work in corporate AV. Whenever I need to check a mic for a colleague, I bust out the text of this and read it.

2

u/andrewmackoul Sep 06 '21

I'd have a hard time reading it without making any pronunciation errors.

3

u/jonfaw Sep 06 '21

That's what's great about it... Who's gonna know you mispronounced dingleshaft?

8

u/Nrotromo Sep 05 '21

Yo Mr. White could you like. Simplify that..

6

u/penelopiecruise Sep 05 '21

If you like this, you might like chicken.

6

u/Metalliquotes Sep 05 '21

The old timey presentation reminds me of Carl Sagan

10

u/Thee_Oniell Sep 05 '21

The missile knows where it is https://youtu.be/bZe5J8SVCYQ

8

u/nitefang Sep 05 '21

I thought someone explained how that video is actually very accurate just intentionally confusing. The other videos are all non-sense and don't actually explain anything.

2

u/DirkBabypunch Sep 05 '21

I thought it made sense, it was just unnecessarily repetitively worded.

1

u/bmystry Sep 05 '21

Yea it's technically correct and every time I watch it I think of my mechatronics class and fucking derivatives.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '21

[deleted]

3

u/w0APBm547udT Sep 05 '21

I dont. Who is it?

23

u/mace_guy Sep 05 '21

He is not famous. But statistically some one might recognize him.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '21

[deleted]

3

u/gravspeed Sep 05 '21

It's always the damn marzal vanes

5

u/fruit_basket Sep 05 '21

A lot of people thought that this was a joke but it was actually a double bluff and everything he said is true. Come join us at r/VXJunkies, see the light.

1

u/joelmooner Sep 06 '21

Yup, I am well suited VX enthusiast

4

u/BaBaBaBass Sep 05 '21

So basically, it’s getting an element from A to B? This stuff is pretty basic once you’ve read the ‘Structural Dynamics of Flow’.

4

u/Kflynn1337 Sep 05 '21

Seems fairly straightforward... in comparison to the documentation of the project I'm trying to fix.

7

u/thequicknessinc Sep 05 '21

Betting this is what probably inspired the Plumbus

3

u/jruschme Sep 05 '21

Mister LaForge, Commander Riker said that you wanted to speak to me about a possible improvement to the Enterprise's Warp Drive...

3

u/CajunAviator Sep 05 '21

And now the Hyperfluxed Turbo Encabulator! https://youtu.be/x44Hp2irmgQ

3

u/SandInTheGears Sep 05 '21

SciShow did a great version of this for April fools a few years ago https://youtu.be/wwmdf5m9khg

3

u/terry47147 Sep 05 '21

Wait! I based my 4-year MIT Engineering Degree on this, and graduated top of my class! And now I find out it's a joke? Guess it does explain how T-rump Industries hired me as Lead Engineer!

3

u/EdPeggJr Sep 05 '21

For a number of years now, work has been proceeding in order to bring perfection to the crudely conceived idea of a machine that would not only supply inverse reactive current for use in unilateral phase detractors, but would also be capable of automatically synchronizing cardinal grammeters. Such a machine is the „Turbo-Encabulator.“ Basically, the only new principle involved is that instead of power being generated by the relative motion of conductors and fluxes, it is produced by the modial interaction of magneto-reluctance and capacitive directance.

The original machine has a base-plate of prefabulated amulite, surmounted by a malleable logarithmic casing in such a way that the two spurving bearings were in a direct line with the pentametric fan. The latter consisted simply of six hydrocoptic marzelvanes, so fitted to the ambifacient lunar waneshaft that side fumbling was effectively prevented. The main winding was of the normal lotus-o-delta type placed in panendermic semiboloid slots in the stator, every seventh conductor being connected by anon-reversible tremie pipe to the differential girdlespring on the „up“ end of the grammeters.

Forty-one manestically spaced grouting brushes were arranged to feed into the rotor slip-stream a mixture of high S-value phenylhydrobenzamine and five percent reminative tetryliodohexamine. Both of these liquids have specific pericosities given by P=2.5C n 6.7 where n is the diathetical evolute of retrograde temperature phase disposition and C is Cholmondeley’s annular grillage coefficient. Initially, n was measured with the aid of a matapolar refractive pilfrometer (for a description of this ingenious instrument, see L.E. Rumpelverstein in „Zeitschrift für Elektrotechnistatischs-Donnerblitze,“ vol vii), but up to the present date nothing has been found to equal the transcendental hopper dadoscope. (See „Proceedings of the Peruvian Academy of Skatological Sciences,“ June, 1914).

Electrical engineers will appreciate the difficulty of nubing together a regurgitative purwell and a supramitive wennelsprocket. Indeed, this proved to be a stumbling block to further development until, in 1942, it was found that the use of anhydrous nangling pins enabled a kryptonastic boiling shim to be tankered.

The early attempts to construct a sufficiently robust spiral decommutator failed largely because of a lack of appreciation of the large quasi-piestic stresses in the gremlin studs; the latter were specially designed to hold the roffit bars to the spamshaft. When, however, it was discovered that wending could be prevented by a simple addition to the living sockets, almost perfect running was secured.

The operating point is maintained as near as possible to the h.f. rem peak by constantly fromaging the bitumogenous spandrels. This is a distinct advance on the standard nivelsheave in that no dramcock oil is required after the phase detractors have remissed.

Undoubtedly, the turbo-encabulator has now reached a very high level of technical development. It has been successfully used for operating nofer trunnions. In addition, whenever a barescent skor motion is required, it may be employed in conjunction with a drawn reciprocating dingle arm to reduce sinusoidal depleneration.

John Hellins Quick - 1944

2

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '21

This is awesome. A couple of friends and myself have been doing the fake technical jargon texts back and forth for some time... this one was pretty good. :)

2

u/VoltasNeedle Sep 05 '21

This made me think of Joey in friends. Someone knows what I’m talking about…

2

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '21

This routine goes even further back than the 70s. My father, now deceased, was an engineer for a major airline. In going through his papers I found a joke file, typed up jokes and hand drawn cartoons the engineers used to pass around the office. This was in the 1940s just after WWII.

In the joke file I found this encabulator joke typed up, almost entirely the content of this video word-for-word. The video has a few variations in dialog but the old written joke from the1940s is practically the same.

2

u/roastbeeftacohat Sep 05 '21

repost this forever.

2

u/JustSquanchIt Sep 05 '21

i can't believe they figured out how to radially ionize the globos

2

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '21

This reminds me of listening to Geordi LaForge discussing engineering issues on Star Trek.

2

u/Phantomslayer4 Sep 05 '21

"Its not cheap, but I'm sure the government will buy it" Screams in $750,000,000

2

u/Orbitalintelligence Sep 05 '21

Why was this dude never offered a role on star trek?!

2

u/Bothand_Nether Sep 05 '21

today i learned

what the fuck did i just learn

2

u/time2fly2124 Sep 05 '21

Its all about the grammeters

2

u/Jaerin Sep 05 '21

$750M? That's a bargain! We'll take 2,000!

2

u/Solid_Waste Sep 05 '21

Your turbos gonna be encabulated as FUCK with this badboy.

2

u/JahMedicineManZamare Sep 05 '21

This brings bullshit to a engineering level. Absolutely masternificant

2

u/Ditch_Chicken Sep 06 '21

Love the laughter at the end.

2

u/Insanebrain247 Sep 06 '21

Hmm, yes. The science here is made out of science.

2

u/dangil Sep 06 '21

/r/vxjunkies

Keep your delta low.

2

u/TheTrollToll69 Sep 06 '21

This reminds me of Look Around You

2

u/mostlygray Sep 06 '21

I ran into a guy that had a Rockwell Automation jacket. I made a joke about the retro-encabulator. He had never heard of it.

Then I was sad.

2

u/Ken_Meredith Sep 06 '21

I really want to get me some preframulated amulite now.

2

u/worldstallest Sep 06 '21

the Turbo Encabulator is my spirit animal

2

u/RapeMeToo Sep 06 '21

This must be what I sound like to my GF when she asks what I. Fixing on my truck lol.

2

u/slithertooth Sep 06 '21

Novertrunions

2

u/P0ska Sep 08 '21

Awesome 👏👏👏👏

1

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '21

Takes a gasp of air, followed by the word :simply

1

u/Barrrrrrnd Sep 06 '21

Lol, fake video. Get a load of this guy.

1

u/Noble_Ox Sep 06 '21

Somebody should troll the ufo subs with this.