Does anyone know what the Tommyknockers means? - The Tommyknockers (1993) Discussion

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] slitherydee3 18 years ago

It doesn't mean anything. It is just a name pulled from an old nursery rhyme, and it is used to identify the aliens.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] I_am_SPonG 18 years ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommyknockers

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[–] Clearmount 18 years ago

The oxford unabridged dictionary suggests the meaning of Tommy Knockers as:Miners who died of starvation who still go knocking for food and salvation. (Found at the beginning of the book.)

Used in the book/movie it is just the term for the aliens

Logic has no place here!

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[–] GoldieGirlie 18 years ago

It needs to mean STUPID movie!

Get confident...STUPID

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[–] niallhetherington 18 years ago

But great book

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[–] drxcreatures 18 years ago

I wonder if anyone ever opened the door for them.

Gerry is the best to focus on that I could ever hope for.

www.drxcreatures.com

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[–] FaeVerte 18 years ago

In the book, Bobbi tells Gard the "Tommyknockers" doesn't really mean anything, it's just a name, and that they've been called different things in different places all over the galaxy, as has Altair-4 (I'm assuming Altair-4 is mentioned in the movie, as well; I haven't seen it). Bobbi says Gard calls them Tommyknockers because he was thinking about that poem when he showed up at Bobbi's place, and so he gave them that name.

There's only us, there's only this. Forget regret or life is yours to miss.

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[–] dead_by_dawn-1 17 years ago

But if you keep in mind the definition of Tommyknockers stated above, you see where the name fits the aliens. The legendary Tommyknockers are ghost of miners buried alive who knock on doors seeking food. The aliens are the ghosts of, well, aliens who were buried alive thousands of years ago who possess the residents of Heaven Maine for similar reasons. Hence the name Tommyknockers.

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[–] mickmaxy 8 years ago

It needs to mean STUPID movie!

You need to learn English grammar, STUPID.

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[–] nosferatuca2000 17 years ago

Knockers, Knackers, Bwca "BOOBIES"(Welsh),Knockers, Bucca (Cornish) or Tommyknockers (US) are the Welsh and Cornish equivalent of Irish leprechauns and English & Scottish brownies. About two feet tall and grizzled, but not misshapen, they live beneath the ground. Here they wear tiny versions of standard miner's garb and commit random mischief, such as stealing unattended tools and food.

as quoted from Wikipedia!!

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[–] ekpyrosis-1 16 years ago

I never heard about any "tommyknockers" before, I wasn't familiar with this part of an American folklore.

In my native language the novel's name is Stukostrachy :-) It derives from "stukac" - to knock - and "strach" - fear, terror, fright.

-----------------------------
http://nitocris1.livejournal.com/

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[–] gmyers18-680-25003 11 years ago

tommyknockers means traci lords has big hooters

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[–] eoval 8 years ago

The unknown boogeyman in the closet.

"I do not like mixing up moralities and mathematics."
Churchill

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[–] bobbiekaye69 8 years ago

This thread has some fairly close explanations of what a Tommyknocker is, but they all missed it.

In the 1870s, silver miners in and around Virginia City, Nevada were digging very deep into the earth, thousands of feet down. A number of miners from Cornwall, England came for jobs, as they were experienced with such deep mining. These Cornish miners brought the Tommyknockers with them from England.

The Tommyknockers would then live in the mines, and as long as you took care of them, left a little bite of your lunch behind, they would take care of you. They would often warn you of an upcoming cave in, or other potential disaster. They were handy little fellows to have around.

But if you didn't feed them, the Tommyknockers would hide your tools when you were off your shift, or play other mischievous games with you, such as blowing out the flame in your lantern.

These wee creatures, Tommyknockers, were nothing more or less than British leprechauns.

I intend to live forever.
So far, so good.

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[–] bittenhoney 8 years ago

"The Knocker, Knacker, Bwca (Welsh), Bucca (Cornish) or Tommyknocker (US) is a mythical creature in Welsh, Cornish and Devon folklore. They are the equivalent of Irish leprechauns and English and Scottish brownies. About two feet tall and grizzled, but not misshapen, they live beneath the ground."

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[–] Munstrum_Ridcully 8 years ago

It means once upon a time Stephen king watched
They Came from Beyond Space (1967)
and
Night Slaves (1970)

Atheism is a religion in the same way that celibacy is a sexual position

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