Greeble vs Greebly?

LadyJoker

LadyJoker

New Member
Hey guys!

This isn't a question for a particular build, but a friend of mine and I are having a debate over the term greebly (gree-blee) vs. greeble (gree-buhl) - we're each arguing that one is the original term but we can't find a definitive source to back it up. Can anyone tell me which one is the right terminology to use? I say greebly and he says greeble.

P.S. - If you help me win this debate and you need greeblies for a project, I will send you a box of them!! :)
 
From what I have read, the word "greeblie" (ending in a long "e" sound) has been used for a long long time to note indeterminate types of tiny small things on a surface. Most often, the word has been used to note bugs (bedbugs..), mites and crumbs, nubs or the pilling on clothing.

Youtube: Sesame Street - Ten little Greeblies!

From RPF thread Origins of "greebly" (greeblie):
phase pistol said:
The terms "greeblies" and "nurnies" have been used for a long time to describe kit parts used to detail miniatures... I'd look back to the Gerry Anderson shows of the 1960s and 70s for a possible origin, or maybe they were in use long before that, I don't know.
Click to expand...

Then I think the word must have been simplified into into "greeble", where the end 'e' is silent ...
 
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From the Urban Dictionary: greeblies, and greeb:
* A "greeb" is someone how is unkempt: wearing shaggy clothing or has unwashed hair, or has intentionally a "punk" style.
* A "greeblie" is often something small and unpleasant, such as bugs, mites etc.
* The word "greebly" could be used for something that is unkempt (such as a greeb) or something that is full of greeblies.

It seems to me that "greeble" is used more by CGI artists, because of software that use that spelling.
 
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I read somewhere quite some time ago a book or article in which it seemed that in the sense of props, "greeble" is the verb form, while "greeblies" is the plural noun that is applied during greebling. However, it also seems to me that "greebles" is an acceptable alternate form of "greeblies", and in the singular form "greebly" and "greeblie" are also both acceptable, thanks to Sesame Street (NOT!*).

*Sesame Street, a supposedly educational program, is entirely responsible for the whole world now using the misspelling of the singular "cookie". Before that show's existence, the only accepted way to spell the singular form of "cookies" was "cooky".
 
The first word I ever heard to describe these things is "doodads". After that, I heard "greebles". It wasn't until about 3 years ago that I heard the first mention of "greeblies".
"Greebles" is my favorite one.
 
I worked in the ILM modelshop for 14 years and we called 'em greeblies. However occasionally someone might refer to a single one as "a greeble", but that wasn't very common.
Greebly was typically used for the singular version. I'm pretty sure that Lorne, Steve and the rest of the guys at the ILM shop were using the term as early as 1976, maybe earlier.

That being said, a friend of mine also "in the biz" from southern California said that they were referring to them down there as "Nernies". Then I heard someone at ILM refer to nernies as the little balls of clay that you scrape off when sculpting. So go figure?
 
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I was gonna post basically the same thing, but you've confirmed it Duncanator. I always heard them referred to as "nurnies" in the Biz in SoCal (I always assumed it would be spelled with a 'u'), and I heard that "greeblies" was a NorCal thing.

As far as "greeblies," I first encountered the word in the Return of the Jedi sketchbook in 1983:

greeblies.jpg

So as far as I'm concerned, "greeblies" is correct. End of story.
 
I'm perfectly ok with correcting my spelling to nurnies. I was just sounding it out.

They're all made-up words anyway: Nurnies, Greeblies, Wiggets, Do-dads….
 
True story: Michael Bay refers to them as "s - hit" (put together though), but in a non-offensive context. It's just what he calls them.
 
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