[Scene: Jules and Vincent, in a diner, post-seminar]

Credit: YouTube

Vincent: Yeah, but what did you think about the presenter calling that synthetic step 'clever'? He even put it in his slides.

Jules: I wouldn't go so far as to call that synthetic step clever, but it definitely worked. I don't think it was "clever", that reaction was "straightforward". "Straightforward" goes a long way in a presentation.

Vincent: So a reaction needs to be more innovative than straightforward to be a "clever" synthetic step. Is that true?

Jules: Well we'd have to be talkin' about one clever motherf*****n' synthetic step. I mean it'd have to be five times more clever than that Woodward total synthesis of reserpine, you know what I'm sayin'?