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Tuesday, July 7th, 2026

Live Poll: Face-Off: The Two Sides of "Inconceivable!"

In 1981's avant-garde indie classic My Dinner with AndreWallace Shawn uses the word "inconceivable" during a passionate defense of ordinary human survival, arguing against the idea that it's impossible to live a truly meaningful, grounded life in a modern, disconnected world.

Six years later, director Rob Reiner and writer William Goldman gave him the exact same word as an iconic catchphrase in The Princess Bride (1987). This time, as the petulant criminal mastermind Vizzini, Shawn uses "Inconceivable!" as a rigid shield for his own absolute intellectual certainty - refusing to believe that reality won't cooperate with his flawless, deterministic plans.

Which version of Wallace Shawn's "Inconceivable" philosophies speaks to you more?

List: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls4110289468/ 

List copy: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls4110289468/copy/ 

Poll: https://www.imdb.com/poll/Qo9ccn2pvbQFbBKjEqVEAQ/ 

Oldest First
Selected Oldest First

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I have watched My Dinner With Andre once and will likely never rewatch it again. I may have forgotten its inconceivable inclusion or more likely missed it altogether. But that bridge between this movie and The Princess Bride is absolutely perfect. #chefskiss!! Thanks, Dan, for this very unique poll.

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@Tsarstepan​ ,

I was utterly surprised and delighted that Wallace Shawn uses the word "inconceivable" during a passionate defense of ordinary human survival, arguing against the idea that it's impossible to live a truly meaningful, grounded life in a modern, disconnected world. I was forced to rewatch My Dinner with Andre to verify what I heard and did extensive research to verify that I correctly heard it. I do not plan to ever watch that film ever again.

I got a sense of what it was like for people who were on the receiving end of my explaining how a watch works when they asked the time of day. I was way too much like Sheldon when I was younger; I became more like Leonard as I got older.