The phenomenon of cellar door being regarded as euphonious appears to have begun in the very early twentieth century first attested in the 1903 novel gee boy by the shakespeare scholar cyrus lauron hooper.
What is cellar door in donnie darko.
Grandma death the ex nun who wrote the time travel book donated by the professor to donnie.
Nunberg further suggests the semantics of cellar door are not actually irrelevant.
The words cellar door are written on the chalkboard in karen pomeroy s classroom.
Donnie sees his destiny when ariel gretchen joins his spirit and when he has sex with her at midnight he sees a portal cellar door and realizes his destiny by going to roberta sparrow s house.
This idea is utilized in the 2001 film donnie darko where the phrase cellar door is discussed in one scene and an actual cellar door figures into the plot in a later scene.
It was the first feature length film from director and writer james richard kelly.
The english compound noun cellar door has been widely cited as an example of a word or phrase that is beautiful purely in terms of its sound i e euphony without regard for its meaning.
When donnie asks about their meaning she replies that this famous linguist once said that of all the phrases in the english language of all the endless combinations of words in all of history that cellar door is the most beautiful.
In fantasy a mundane door can become a portal to another world as with the wardrobe of the lion the witch and the wardrobe or the rabbit hole of alice in wonderland.
Donnie darko quotes quotable quote this famous linguist once said that of all the phrases in the english language of all the endless combinations of words in all of history that cellar door is the most beautiful.