If everyone could create a pop culture icon, everyone would. There's no set formula for coming up with something that really takes off with the audience, otherwise our series Zombie Housewives Ad Agency Glee Club: SVU (starring Zooey Deschanel) would've never been cancelled. However, it turns out that some movies and shows that did become enduring classics were dangerously close to being terrible, and we probably wouldn't be talking about them today if they hadn't switched gears on the fly.

5 Star Trek: Leonard Nimoy Came Up With the Vulcan Salute on Set

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One of the most lasting things to come out of Star Trek is Spock's Vulcan salute -- you know, the one where you raise your palm and separate your fingers like someone's trying to tear your hand down the middle. Half a century after the world first saw Spock do that gesture on TV, it has gone from a greeting used by the members of the Vulcan race in the show to something that nerds in general (not just Star Trek fans) can use to spot each other in the real world.

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If Obama loses the next election, know that it's because he didn't put his thumb out to the side.

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The salute first appeared in the 1967 episode "Amok Time," in which Spock (Leonard Nimoy) must return to his home planet to get laid or die trying. From there, the greeting just took off, presumably because the hippies mistook it for some sort of uber-peace sign.

But It Was Almost ...

A shoulder rub, basically. The script for "Amok Time" actually called for Spock to kneel in front of another Vulcan, who would then grab his shoulders. That was the "Vulcan salute." Basically, Vulcans were supposed to be an entire race of Buster Bluths from Arrested Development, constantly saying hi to their brethren through awkward surprise massages.



"Heeeey, Captain."

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It's hard to imagine this version becoming so widespread and iconic, especially considering that sci-fi fans in general are about as comfortable with human contact as Vulcans themselves.

Until ...

Nimoy, however, was aware of this: He pointed out on the set that a previous episode had established that Vulcans would think of this as an invasion of privacy, so he suggested replacing the shoulder rub with something else.



"You think someone's gonna remember what we said in another episode? Come on."

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And as it turns out, the gesture has nothing to do with trying to appeal to the hippies and everything to do with Nimoy being Jewish. Nimoy remembered an event in his childhood when he was in a synagogue and saw Jewish priests blessing the audience by doing a gesture with both hands to represent the Hebrew letter "shin," which means "lord" or "eternal spirit":