Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Vulcans

Certain Vulcan customs have become so universally well-known that even the non-Trekkie might flip you the LLAP if they can manage it. The split-hand salute was conceived by Leonard Nimoy (based on a Jewish blessing) during filming of Amok Time, an episode that gave us a wealth of other insights into Vulcan culture, to be discussed later.

Nimoy was also responsible for the creation of another now mainstream Vulcan maneuvre: the nerve, or neck pinch. The script for the season one episode The Enemy Within called for Spock to "kayo [K.O.]" Kirk's evil transporter twin with a blow to the head (using the butt of a gun), but Nimoy thought that Vulcans wouldn't practice such levels of violence. Instead, they would know enough about human anatomy to knock anyone unconscious with a simple pinch to a nerve in the neck. A combined demonstration from Nimoy and William Shatner (who fainted on command) convinced director Leo Penn to include the nerve pinch in the episode.

According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia, the shorthand FSNP (Famous Spock Nerve Pinch) then came to be used by The Original Series scriptwriters as a light-hearted way to refer to Nimoy's immobilising invention.