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[[File:Spinal Tap - Up to Eleven.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|The original "up to eleven" knobs in the 1984 film ''[[This Is Spinal Tap]]'']]
[[File:Spinal Tap - Up to Eleven.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|The original "up to eleven" knobs in the 1984 film ''[[This Is Spinal Tap]]'']]


"'''Up to eleven'''", also phrased as "'''these go to eleven'''", is an [[idiom]] from popular culture, coined in the 1984 film ''[[This Is Spinal Tap]],'' where guitarist [[Nigel Tufnel]] demonstrates an amplifier whose volume knobs are marked from zero to eleven, instead of the usual zero to ten. The primary implication of the reference is one in which things that are essentially the same are seen as different, due to mislabeling or the user's misunderstanding of the underlying operating principles. A secondary reference may be anything being exploited to its utmost limits, or apparently exceeding them.
"'''Up to eleven'''", also phrased as "'''these go to eleven'''", is an [[idiom]] from popular culture, coined in the 1984 film ''[[This Is Spinal Tap]],'' where guitarist [[Nigel Tufnel]] demonstrates an amplifier whose volume knobs are marked from zero to eleven, instead of the usual zero to ten.


In 2002, the phrase entered the ''[[Shorter Oxford English Dictionary]]'' with the definition "up to maximum volume".<ref name="TimesOnline">{{cite web |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0%2C%2C1-3564-427663%2C00.html |title=Tardis lands in dictionary of today |last=Hamilton |first=Alan |date=September 26, 2002 |website=[[Times Online]] |access-date=June 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060107004405/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0%2C%2C1-3564-427663%2C00.html |archive-date=January 7, 2006}}</ref>
In 2002, the phrase entered the ''[[Shorter Oxford English Dictionary]]'' with the definition "up to maximum volume".<ref name="TimesOnline">{{cite web |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0%2C%2C1-3564-427663%2C00.html |title=Tardis lands in dictionary of today |last=Hamilton |first=Alan |date=September 26, 2002 |website=[[Times Online]] |access-date=June 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060107004405/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0%2C%2C1-3564-427663%2C00.html |archive-date=January 7, 2006}}</ref>


==Original scene from ''This Is Spinal Tap''==
==Original scene from ''This Is Spinal Tap''==
The phrase was coined in a scene from the 1984 [[mockumentary]]/[[rockumentary]] ''[[This Is Spinal Tap]]'' by the character [[Nigel Tufnel]], played by [[Christopher Guest]]. In this scene, Nigel gives the rockumentary's director, Marty DiBergi, played by [[Rob Reiner]], a tour of his stage equipment. While Nigel is showing Marty his [[Marshall Amplification|Marshall]] [[Instrument amplifier|guitar amplifiers]], he points out a selection whose control knobs all have a highest setting of eleven, unlike standard amplifiers whose volume settings are typically numbered from 0 to 10. Believing that this numbering increases the highest volume of the amp, he explains, "It's one louder, isn't it?" When Marty asks why not simply make the 10 setting louder, Nigel hesitates before responding, "''These'' go to eleven."<ref name="imdb quotes">{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088258/quotes |title=Memorable Quotes from This Is Spinal Tap |website=IMDb.com}}</ref><ref name="script">{{cite web |url=http://corky.net/scripts/ThisIsSpinalTap.html |title=The Script to This is Spinal Tap, v3. |publisher=Corky.net |date=1 March 1995 |access-date=7 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904082203/http://corky.net/scripts/ThisIsSpinalTap.html |archive-date=4 September 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
The phrase was coined in a scene from the 1984 [[mockumentary]]/[[rockumentary]] ''[[This Is Spinal Tap]]'' by the character [[Nigel Tufnel]], played by [[Christopher Guest]]. In this scene, Nigel gives the rockumentary's director, Marty DiBergi, played by [[Rob Reiner]], a tour of his stage equipment. While Nigel is showing Marty his [[Marshall Amplification|Marshall]] [[Instrument amplifier|guitar amplifiers]], he points out a selection whose control knobs all have a highest setting of eleven, unlike standard amplifiers whose volume settings are typically numbered from 0 to 10. Believing that this numbering increases the highest volume of the amp, he explains, "It's one louder, isn't it?" When Marty asks why not simply make the 10 setting louder, Nigel hesitates before responding: "''These'' go to eleven."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://aes2.org/publications/par/num/ |title=Pro Audio Reference |at=11 |access-date=2024-08-08}}</ref><ref name="imdb quotes">{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088258/quotes |title=Memorable Quotes from This Is Spinal Tap |website=IMDb.com}}</ref><ref name="script">{{cite web |url=http://corky.net/scripts/ThisIsSpinalTap.html |title=The Script to This is Spinal Tap, v3. |publisher=Corky.net |date=1 March 1995 |access-date=7 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904082203/http://corky.net/scripts/ThisIsSpinalTap.html |archive-date=4 September 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>


== Other instances ==
== Prior examples ==

=== Prior examples ===
[[File:Chesapeake and Ohio Railway steam turbine locomotive 500.JPG|thumb|C&O's {{Abbr|No.|number}}&nbsp;500 first went "up to 11" in 1947.]]
[[File:Chesapeake and Ohio Railway steam turbine locomotive 500.JPG|thumb|C&O's {{Abbr|No.|number}}&nbsp;500 first went "up to 11" in 1947.]]
The use of "11" as a maximum pre-dates ''This Is Spinal Tap'' by almost forty years. In 1947, the [[Baldwin Locomotive Works]] and the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway]] introduced the [[Chesapeake and Ohio class M-1]] [[steam turbine locomotive]]. The locomotive's throttle included eleven settings, ranging from one (idling) to eleven (full speed). The locomotive's cruising speed was {{convert|70.|mph}}, at which point the throttle was on "seven". During a trial run with a reporter from ''[[Popular Mechanics]]'' aboard, a C&O engineer expressed his dissatisfaction with a local speed limit of {{convert|75|mph|kph}}, noting that he would "Sure like to be able to pull it back to eleven!"<ref name="railton">{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5dgDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA107 |title=Chessie Has That New Look |last=Railton |first=Arthur R. |magazine=[[Popular Mechanics]] |date=March 1948}}</ref>{{rp|110; 252}}
The use of "11" as a maximum pre-dates ''This Is Spinal Tap'' by almost 40 years. In 1947, the [[Baldwin Locomotive Works]] and the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway]] introduced the [[Chesapeake and Ohio class M-1]] [[steam turbine locomotive]]. The locomotive's throttle included eleven settings, ranging from one (idling) to eleven (full speed). The locomotive's cruising speed was {{convert|70.|mph}}, at which point the throttle was on "seven". During a trial run with a reporter from ''[[Popular Mechanics]]'' aboard, a C&O engineer expressed his dissatisfaction with a local speed limit of {{convert|75|mph|kph}}, noting that he would "Sure like to be able to pull it back to eleven!"<ref name="railton">{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5dgDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA107 |title=Chessie Has That New Look |last=Railton |first=Arthur R. |magazine=[[Popular Mechanics]] |date=March 1948}}</ref>{{rp|110; 252}}


[[Gibson Guitar Corporation|Gibson]] [[Gibson Les Paul|Les Paul]] [[guitar]]s with low-[[Impedance matching|impedance]] [[pickup (music technology)|pickups]] were outfitted with special controls designed by [[Les Paul]] himself. Controls included a "Decade Switch" that went up to 11.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/les-paul-the-recording-model-1113-2012.aspx |title=Les Paul's Favorite Les Paul – The Recording Model |last=Leonard |first=Michael |date=20 June 2014 |website=Gibson Lifestyle |access-date=2 April 2018}}</ref>
[[Gibson Guitar Corporation|Gibson]] [[Gibson Les Paul|Les Paul]] [[guitar]]s with low-[[Impedance matching|impedance]] [[pickup (music technology)|pickups]] were outfitted with special controls designed by [[Les Paul]] himself. Controls included a "[[wikt:decade|Decade]] Switch" that went up to 11.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/les-paul-the-recording-model-1113-2012.aspx |title=Les Paul's Favorite Les Paul – The Recording Model |last=Leonard |first=Michael |date=20 June 2014 |website=Gibson Lifestyle |access-date=2 April 2018}}</ref>


=== Formula 1===
== Subsequent examples ==
⚫
As a consequence of the film, real bands and musicians started buying equipment whose knobs went up to 11, or even higher, with [[Eddie Van Halen]] reputedly being the first to do so.<ref name="French" /> [[Marshall Amplification|Marshall]], the company that provided amplifiers for the film that the custom-marked knobs were applied to, now sells amplifiers such as its JCM900 (first sold in 1990) whose knobs are marked from 0 to 20.<ref name="French">{{cite news |title=The A-Z of Spinal Tap |first=Karl |last=French |date=22 September 2000 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/extracts/story/0,,371343,00.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spinaltapfan.com/atozed/TAP00160.HTM |website=Spinal Tap A to Zed |title=Eleven}}</ref> The QSC 3500 and 3800 amplifiers made for the professional sound company Sound Image in the 1990s went to 11, as do amps from [[Soldano Custom Amplification|Soldano]] and [[Friedman Amplification|Friedman]].
All teams in racing have various modes and settings that they switch to depending on the necessary strategy of the race. From time to time teams will use special phrases or keywords to describe the modes. The [[Red Bull Racing]] team in [[Formula 1]] refers its drivers over the radio to "Mode 11"{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}, which is an engine mode that unlocks the full power of the engine, encouraging the driver to challenge the cars ahead.


⚫
Other controls with a maximum of 11 include SSL mixing consoles, Amazon Alexa, the [[BBC]]'s [[iPlayer]] on demand video player,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://rxdxt.tumblr.com/post/560540392/why-the-bbcs-iplayer-volume-control-go-to-11 |author=rxdxt |title=Why the BBC's iPlayer volume control go to 11 |website=Tumblr.com |date=30 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425045511/http://rxdxt.tumblr.com/post/560540392/why-the-bbcs-iplayer-volume-control-go-to-11 |archive-date=25 April 2012}}</ref> the headphone volume control on the PreSonus AudioBox 1818VSL, the volume control on the Apogee Mini-DAC,<ref name="script2">{{cite web |url=http://www.apogeedigital.com/pdf/minidac_usersguide.pdf |title=Apogee Mini-DAC User's Guide |website=ApogeeDigital.com |date=June 2003 |access-date=17 November 2015}}</ref> the [[IRIX]] audio panel (when invoked with the undocumented ''-spinaltap'' option), and the [[Tesla Model S]]'s volume control.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/automobiles/autoreviews/one-big-step-for-tesla-one-giant-leap-for-evs.html |title=One Big Step for Tesla, One Giant Leap for E.V.'s |first=Bradley |last=Berman |date=28 September 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=3 April 2018}}</ref> The [[tachometer]] on a [[Singer Vehicle Design]] modified [[Porsche 911]] goes up to 11, representing 11,000 [[revolutions per minute|RPM]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/singer-911-porsche-top-gear-drive-2012-02-02 |title=Top Gear drives the mighty Singer 911 |website=TopGear.com |date=2 February 2012}}</ref><ref>''Top Gear'' Series 20 Episode 5</ref> The "Drive" knob of the [[Elektron_(company)|Elektron]] [[Elektron_Syntakt|Syntakt]] drum computer and synthesizer goes from 0 to 11 with 1 in the middle, using 0—1 for normal clean audio levels followed by 10 additional steps of distorted range.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cdn.www.elektron.se/media/downloads/syntakt/Syntakt_User_Manual_ENG_OS1.20_221123.pdf |title=Syntakt User Manual |website=Elektron.se |date=24 November 2022}}</ref>
=== Cultural examples===
⚫
As a consequence of the film, real bands and musicians started buying equipment whose knobs went up to 11, or even higher, with [[Eddie Van Halen]] reputedly being the first to do so.<ref name="French" /> [[Marshall Amplification|Marshall]], the company that provided amplifiers for the film that the custom-marked knobs were applied to, now sells amplifiers such as its JCM900 (first sold in 1990) whose knobs are marked from 0 to 20.<ref name="French">{{cite news |title=The A-Z of Spinal Tap |first=Karl |last=French |date=22 September 2000 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/extracts/story/0,,371343,00.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spinaltapfan.com/atozed/TAP00160.HTM |website=Spinal Tap A to Zed |title=Eleven}}</ref> The QSC 3500 and 3800 amplifiers made for the professional sound company Sound Image in the 1990s went to 11, as do amps from [[Soldano Custom Amplification|Soldano]] and Friedman.


⚫
On its primary page for ''This Is Spinal Tap'', the [[IMDb]] displays the user rating for the film out of 11 stars (e.g. 7.9/11) instead of the standard scale of one to ten.<ref name ="slashfilm">{{cite web |url=http://www.slashfilm.com/trivia-this-spinal-tap-imdb-rating-eleven/ |title=Trivia: 'This Is Spinal Tap' IMDb Rating Goes to Eleven |website=[[/Film]] |date=December 2, 2010 |first=Germain |last=Lussier |access-date=October 10, 2016}}</ref><ref name="imdb11"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088258/trivia?item=tr1771101|title=Trivia for 'This Is Spinal Tap' |website=IMDb |quote=The only movie on IMDb that is rated out of 11 stars. |access-date=October 10, 2016}}</ref> Ten rating stars are actually shown on the page, and users can only use ten. Other IMDb pages display the rating out of 10.<ref name="imdb11">{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088258/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101207145532/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088258/ |archive-date=7 December 2010 |url-status=dead |title=This Is Spinal Tap (1984) |website=[[IMDb]] |access-date=October 10, 2016 }}</ref>
⚫
Other controls with a maximum of 11 include SSL mixing consoles, Amazon Alexa, the [[BBC]]'s [[iPlayer]] on demand video player,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://rxdxt.tumblr.com/post/560540392/why-the-bbcs-iplayer-volume-control-go-to-11 |author=rxdxt |title=Why the BBC's iPlayer volume control go to 11 |website=Tumblr.com |date=30 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425045511/http://rxdxt.tumblr.com/post/560540392/why-the-bbcs-iplayer-volume-control-go-to-11 |archive-date=25 April 2012}}</ref> the headphone volume control on the PreSonus AudioBox 1818VSL, the volume control on the Apogee Mini-DAC,<ref name="script2">{{cite web |url=http://www.apogeedigital.com/pdf/minidac_usersguide.pdf |title=Apogee Mini-DAC User's Guide |website=ApogeeDigital.com |date=June 2003 |access-date=17 November 2015}}</ref> the [[IRIX]] audio panel (when invoked with the undocumented ''-spinaltap'' option), and the [[Tesla Model S]]'s volume control.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/automobiles/autoreviews/one-big-step-for-tesla-one-giant-leap-for-evs.html |title=One Big Step for Tesla, One Giant Leap for E.V.'s |first=Bradley |last=Berman |date=28 September 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=3 April 2018}}</ref> The [[tachometer]] on a [[Singer Vehicle Design]] modified [[Porsche 911]] goes up to 11, representing 11,000 [[revolutions per minute|RPM]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/singer-911-porsche-top-gear-drive-2012-02-02 |title=Top Gear drives the mighty Singer 911 |website=TopGear.com |date=2 February 2012}}</ref><ref>''Top Gear'' Series 20 Episode 5</ref>


⚫
The influence of the phrase "up to eleven" is such that it has been used outside of music; in 2016, for example, astronomer [[Krzysztof Stanek]] described the then brightest-known object in the universe, [[ASASSN-15lh]], as being "as if nature took everything we know about magnetars and turned it up to 11".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kennell |first=Joanne |url=http://thescienceexplorer.com/universe/mysterious-object-570-billion-times-brighter-sun |title=Mysterious Object is 570 Billion Times Brighter than the Sun |date=19 January 2016 |website=The Science Explorer |access-date=25 January 2016}}</ref>
⚫
On its primary page for ''This Is Spinal Tap'', the [[IMDb]] displays the user rating for the film out of 11 stars (e.g. 7.9/11) instead of the standard scale of one to ten.<ref name ="slashfilm">{{cite web |url=http://www.slashfilm.com/trivia-this-spinal-tap-imdb-rating-eleven/ |title=Trivia: 'This Is Spinal Tap' IMDb Rating Goes to Eleven |website=[[/Film]] |date=December 2, 2010 |first=Germain |last=Lussier |access-date=October 10, 2016}}</ref><ref name="imdb11"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088258/trivia?item=tr1771101|title=Trivia for 'This Is Spinal Tap' |website=IMDb |quote=The only movie on IMDb that is rated out of 11 stars. |access-date=October 10, 2016}}</ref> However, only 10 rating stars are actually shown on the page, and user ratings can only be submitted up to 10 stars. Other IMDb pages display the rating out of 10.<ref name="imdb11">{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088258/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101207145532/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088258/ |archive-date=7 December 2010 |url-status=dead |title=This Is Spinal Tap (1984) |website=[[IMDb]] |access-date=October 10, 2016 }}</ref>
<!--Please do not add incidental or unremarkable examples. -->

⚫
The influence of the phrase "up to eleven" is such that it has been used outside of music; in 2016, for example, astronomer [[Krzysztof Stanek]] described the brightest-known object in the universe as being "as if nature took everything we know about magnetars and turned it up to 11."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kennell |first=Joanne |url=http://thescienceexplorer.com/universe/mysterious-object-570-billion-times-brighter-sun |title=Mysterious Object is 570 Billion Times Brighter than the Sun |date=19 January 2016 |website=The Science Explorer |access-date=25 January 2016}}</ref>

In [[Android 11]], the ubiquitous version information animation also depicts a retro dial, with 10 divisions represented as dots. As the user turns it beyond the 10 divisions, the 11th division is displayed as a number.


==See also==
==See also==
*{{anli|1000 percent}}. Similar expressions include "110%"
*[[Loudest band in the world]]
*[[Loudness war]]
*[[Loudest band]] (list)
*{{anli|Loudness war}}
⚫
*[[Red line (phrase)]], "a limit past which safety can no longer be guaranteed"
*[[Spaceballs#Impact|Plaid Speed]], what happens when a spacecraft exceeds the Red line of Ludicrous Speed.
*[[Spaceballs#Impact|Plaid Speed]]{{snd}} In the film ''[[Spaceballs]]'', the consequence of exceeding the red line of Ludicrous Speed
⚫
*{{anli|Red line (phrase)}}, "a limit past which safety can no longer be guaranteed"
*[[1000 percent]]


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Wiktionary}}

{{Spinal Tap}}
{{Spinal Tap}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Up To Eleven}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Up To Eleven}}
⚫
[[Category:1984 quotations]]
⚫
[[Category:Comedy catchphrases]]
[[Category:English-language idioms]]
[[Category:English-language idioms]]
[[Category:Quotations from film]]
[[Category:Quotations from film]]
⚫
[[Category:Comedy catchphrases]]
[[Category:Spinal Tap (band)]]
[[Category:Spinal Tap (band)]]
⚫
[[Category:1984 neologisms]]

Latest revision as of 20:10, 8 August 2024

The original "up to eleven" knobs in the 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap

"Up to eleven", also phrased as "these go to eleven", is an idiom from popular culture, coined in the 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap, where guitarist Nigel Tufnel demonstrates an amplifier whose volume knobs are marked from zero to eleven, instead of the usual zero to ten.

In 2002, the phrase entered the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary with the definition "up to maximum volume".[1]

Original scene from This Is Spinal Tap

[edit]

The phrase was coined in a scene from the 1984 mockumentary/rockumentary This Is Spinal Tap by the character Nigel Tufnel, played by Christopher Guest. In this scene, Nigel gives the rockumentary's director, Marty DiBergi, played by Rob Reiner, a tour of his stage equipment. While Nigel is showing Marty his Marshall guitar amplifiers, he points out a selection whose control knobs all have a highest setting of eleven, unlike standard amplifiers whose volume settings are typically numbered from 0 to 10. Believing that this numbering increases the highest volume of the amp, he explains, "It's one louder, isn't it?" When Marty asks why not simply make the 10 setting louder, Nigel hesitates before responding: "These go to eleven."[2][3][4]

Prior examples

[edit]
C&O's No. 500 first went "up to 11" in 1947.

The use of "11" as a maximum pre-dates This Is Spinal Tap by almost 40 years. In 1947, the Baldwin Locomotive Works and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway introduced the Chesapeake and Ohio class M-1 steam turbine locomotive. The locomotive's throttle included eleven settings, ranging from one (idling) to eleven (full speed). The locomotive's cruising speed was 70 miles per hour (113 km/h), at which point the throttle was on "seven". During a trial run with a reporter from Popular Mechanics aboard, a C&O engineer expressed his dissatisfaction with a local speed limit of 75 miles per hour (121 km/h), noting that he would "Sure like to be able to pull it back to eleven!"[5]: 110, 252 

Gibson Les Paul guitars with low-impedance pickups were outfitted with special controls designed by Les Paul himself. Controls included a "Decade Switch" that went up to 11.[6]

Subsequent examples

[edit]

As a consequence of the film, real bands and musicians started buying equipment whose knobs went up to 11, or even higher, with Eddie Van Halen reputedly being the first to do so.[7] Marshall, the company that provided amplifiers for the film that the custom-marked knobs were applied to, now sells amplifiers such as its JCM900 (first sold in 1990) whose knobs are marked from 0 to 20.[7][8] The QSC 3500 and 3800 amplifiers made for the professional sound company Sound Image in the 1990s went to 11, as do amps from Soldano and Friedman.

Other controls with a maximum of 11 include SSL mixing consoles, Amazon Alexa, the BBC's iPlayer on demand video player,[9] the headphone volume control on the PreSonus AudioBox 1818VSL, the volume control on the Apogee Mini-DAC,[10] the IRIX audio panel (when invoked with the undocumented -spinaltap option), and the Tesla Model S's volume control.[11] The tachometer on a Singer Vehicle Design modified Porsche 911 goes up to 11, representing 11,000 RPM.[12][13] The "Drive" knob of the Elektron Syntakt drum computer and synthesizer goes from 0 to 11 with 1 in the middle, using 0—1 for normal clean audio levels followed by 10 additional steps of distorted range.[14]

On its primary page for This Is Spinal Tap, the IMDb displays the user rating for the film out of 11 stars (e.g. 7.9/11) instead of the standard scale of one to ten.[15][16][17] Ten rating stars are actually shown on the page, and users can only use ten. Other IMDb pages display the rating out of 10.[16]

The influence of the phrase "up to eleven" is such that it has been used outside of music; in 2016, for example, astronomer Krzysztof Stanek described the then brightest-known object in the universe, ASASSN-15lh, as being "as if nature took everything we know about magnetars and turned it up to 11".[18]

See also

[edit]
  • 1000 percent – Informal idiom marking enthusiastic support. Similar expressions include "110%"
  • Loudest band (list)
  • Loudness war – Increasing levels in recorded music
  • Plaid Speed – In the film Spaceballs, the consequence of exceeding the red line of Ludicrous Speed
  • Red line (phrase) – Figurative phrase meaning a limit, "a limit past which safety can no longer be guaranteed"

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Hamilton, Alan (September 26, 2002). "Tardis lands in dictionary of today". Times Online. Archived from the original on January 7, 2006. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  2. ^ "Pro Audio Reference". 11. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
  3. ^ "Memorable Quotes from This Is Spinal Tap". IMDb.com.
  4. ^ "The Script to This is Spinal Tap, v3". Corky.net. 1 March 1995. Archived from the original on 4 September 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
  5. ^ Railton, Arthur R. (March 1948). "Chessie Has That New Look". Popular Mechanics.
  6. ^ Leonard, Michael (20 June 2014). "Les Paul's Favorite Les Paul – The Recording Model". Gibson Lifestyle. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  7. ^ a b French, Karl (22 September 2000). "The A-Z of Spinal Tap". The Guardian.
  8. ^ "Eleven". Spinal Tap A to Zed.
  9. ^ rxdxt (30 April 2010). "Why the BBC's iPlayer volume control go to 11". Tumblr.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012.
  10. ^ "Apogee Mini-DAC User's Guide" (PDF). ApogeeDigital.com. June 2003. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  11. ^ Berman, Bradley (28 September 2012). "One Big Step for Tesla, One Giant Leap for E.V.'s". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  12. ^ "Top Gear drives the mighty Singer 911". TopGear.com. 2 February 2012.
  13. ^ Top Gear Series 20 Episode 5
  14. ^ "Syntakt User Manual" (PDF). Elektron.se. 24 November 2022.
  15. ^ Lussier, Germain (December 2, 2010). "Trivia: 'This Is Spinal Tap' IMDb Rating Goes to Eleven". /Film. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  16. ^ a b "This Is Spinal Tap (1984)". IMDb. Archived from the original on 7 December 2010. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  17. ^ "Trivia for 'This Is Spinal Tap'". IMDb. Retrieved October 10, 2016. The only movie on IMDb that is rated out of 11 stars.
  18. ^ Kennell, Joanne (19 January 2016). "Mysterious Object is 570 Billion Times Brighter than the Sun". The Science Explorer. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
Look up up to eleven in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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