# Word of the Day - McGuffin



## debodun

McGuffin (noun) - an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself. 

The McGuffin in this comedy is an unpublished novel by an author killed in the war.


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## Aunt Marg

The Breakfast McMuffin was McGuffin when it came to showing the home to perspective buyers.


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## Ruthanne

I instantly thought of McDonald's when it came to the word McGuffin.


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## Sliverfox

Somehow I thought McGuffin was a cockatoo,, thinking Griffin Cockatoo.


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## horseless carriage

Unfortunately, guff in Brit-speak, is a vulgar term for farting. So McGuffin, rather sounds like, "I'm a guffin'"


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## Chet

debodun said:


> McGuffin (noun) - an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself.
> 
> The definition seems like an oxymoron, or am I a moron?


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## MarkinPhx

The briefcase was a Mac Guffen in Pulp Fiction.   It propelled the story along but it could have been any object. The Maltese Falcon is another example. A bunch of characters pursuing an object that could have been anything other than the Maltese Falcon. In my opinion, the best example is the tiger in Bringing Up Baby. The "baby" could have been a bear or any other dangerous animal and the actions of the characters would have been about the same and the movie would have been just as funny.


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## Ruby Rose

debodun said:


> McGuffin (noun) - an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself.
> 
> The McGuffin in this comedy is an unpublished novel by an author killed in the war.


I like the word McGuffin! I have never come across it before. As a writer of short stories, I use props in my office to depict the story intended. It made you feel really part of the story, for instanced, for "Entombed in White," I had winter scenes and paintings as well as miniature igloos, sleds, all with a winter theme. For the story I have just submitted to the forum, "Going Home," for which my office just dazzled with many bright colours depicting Joshua's journey of colours.


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## ohioboy

Can't find any specific reference to compare but maybe it was derived from the McGuffey Reader series?


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## debodun

A MacGuffin will not have any identity of its own, and it can be interchangeable. For example, Pulp Fiction has the shining briefcase, but the briefcase could've been anything. We never even actually see what's inside the briefcase.


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## ohioboy

A gun on the floor at the fade in of a movie may be a McGuffin.


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## horseless carriage

The Scottish clan of Guffins became known as: The Mac Guffins, later it became shortened to: McGuffins.


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## Ruthanne

Birds flying upwards may be a McGuffin in some movies.


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