Catch phrases that didn't 'catch'

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poetinahat

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Hi all,

Every now and then, I'll see a film or a TV show where there's an obvious attempt to throw in some sort of wacky catchphrase, seemingly in the hope that it will find its way into common usage. Maybe this tactic is meant to lend a cult or camp status to an otherwise unremarkable work?

These aren't just bad dialogue, but they're glaring attempts to get the viewers to use the phrase elsewhere; they're forced into the dialogue and don't fit, and they make you just want to look away.

Here are a couple that spring to mind:

"Nobody puts Baby in a corner." -- Dirty Dancing
"You shoplifted the pootie, didn't you?" -- Jerry Maguire*
"You had me at hello." -- Ibid.

Anyone? Bueller? (whoops.)
 

three seven

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poetinahat said:
"You had me at hello."
Stick that into Google and you'll get about 16500 hits, made up largely of direct references to the legend that is the quote, and offers of T-shirts with the quote printed on them. Oh, and discussions about the hilarity of spoofing it in other films. So I'd have to say that one caught. ;)

Speaking of T-shirts, why do people insist on calling them 'TEE shirts?' The whole point of a T-shirt is that it's shaped like a T. Who exactly fits into a shirt shaped like 'T-E-E'? Or are we supposed to infer that the shirt looks like a golf tee? Cos it f***ing doesn't.
 

poetinahat

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three seven said:
Stick that into Google and you'll get about 16500 hits, ... So I'd have to say that one caught. ;)

Speaking of T-shirts, why do people insist on calling them 'TEE shirts?'

Point taken on 'hello' -- but I'm willing people to believe it hasn't caught! It isn't exactly "We'll always have Paris", is it? :Soapbox:

About T-shirts: agree. We don't say "Why-fronts", do we??? (Never mind that the Y is upside down. Then again, it would be right side up if the wearer bent over to look at it.)
 

maestrowork

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"In case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!" -- the Truman Show

"I hate knowing everything." -- Armageddon


And yes, "You had me at hello" caught on all right. That and "show me the money."
 

Wormo

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maestrowork said:
"In case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!" -- the Truman Show

I thought this catchphrase did 'catch on' after it, it was voted as a movie great.

"That's My Mama!" - If anyone could tell me what the devil this is from? i'd appreciate it

"Biddy biddy biddy biddy biddy" - The robot from Buck Rodgers
 

Sarita

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poetinahat said:
It isn't exactly "We'll always have Paris", is it?

Nothing will ever be "We'll always have Paris" or "Here's lookin at you, kid" for that matter. :)
 

Wormo

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three seven said:
Speaking of T-shirts, why do people insist on calling them 'TEE shirts?' The whole point of a T-shirt is that it's shaped like a T. Who exactly fits into a shirt shaped like 'T-E-E'? Or are we supposed to infer that the shirt looks like a golf tee? Cos it f***ing doesn't.

I've never seen anybody use this spelling over here, it's always "T-shirts for sale!" and stuff in the shops. Maybe it's just a Norfolk thing
 

mmm... pancakes

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Apparently the makers of the Simpsons - with all their successes at introducing phrases ("d'oh" and "mmm... (insert food here)" as two examples) only once conciously tried to do so. The phrase they hoped would catch on was "pulled a Homer," meaning to succeed despite idiocy.
 

underthecity

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Wormo said:
"That's My Mama!" - If anyone could tell me what the devil this is from? i'd appreciate it
I sure don't know what movie it's from, but Peter said it in near the end of an episode of (the original run) of Family Guy, the one where he became a vice president at a tobacco company.

underthecity
 

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...who played Joe the Policeman in the "What's Goin Down" episode

underthecity said:
I sure don't know what movie it's from, but Peter said it in near the end of an episode of (the original run) of Family Guy, the one where he became a vice president at a tobacco company.

underthecity

You have forgotten the now-classic tv series "That's My Mama?"
 

Liam Jackson

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I think the worst "failed" catch phrase of all time has to be that *shudder*
"Waa-waa-waa" thing that Chachi (sp?) did in the final seasons of Happy Days
 

Wormo

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underthecity said:
I sure don't know what movie it's from, but Peter said it in near the end of an episode of (the original run) of Family Guy, the one where he became a vice president at a tobacco company.

underthecity

heheh.

"Give me a snappy line to go out on boys!"
"But it's out lunch break" ... walks away

.....

"That's my Mama!... hehehe"
 

robeiae

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three seven said:
Speaking of T-shirts, why do people insist on calling them 'TEE shirts?' The whole point of a T-shirt is that it's shaped like a T. Who exactly fits into a shirt shaped like 'T-E-E'?

We don't write symbols, we write words..."T-E-E" is how you spell the letter "t", so there! That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Rob
 

Eric Summers

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I can't remember the name of the movie, but it was like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" without all the funny parts.

But the phrase that they kept trying to push through all of their commercials and through the movie was "It's casual"

- Eric
 

Rose

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three seven said:
Funny, I always thought it was spelled 'T'. Since when did the letter T have three letters in it?
All serious Scrabble players know the letter "t" is spelled tee. Then again, so is the golf tee, so maybe that's not the best example. In Spanish Scrabble (and I do have the Spanish board, letters, and official Scrabble Player's Dictionary which sells for $3 in Argentina), it's te. Then again, te is a good word in Spanish whether it's a letter or not.
 

poetinahat

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maestrowork said:
Princess Bride: "It's inconceivable."

Nice one! From the same film: "As you wiiiiiiiiiish"
 
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