http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionar...+catch+phrases
A
* "All that meat and no potatoes" â?? 1941 Fats Waller tune, double-entendre catch-phrase of the 1940s and 1950s
* "Aw, hell no!" - Will Smith catch phrase used in many of his movies
B
* "Bada Bing" From the Sopranos TV show. Means that something happens, effortlessly
* "BAH! HUMBUG!" - Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Indicates frustration or derision.
* "Beam me up, Scotty!" - attributed to Captain Kirk in (This was never actually uttered. The closest was in , when Kirk said "Scotty, beam me up.") From the longer phrase "Beam me up, Scotty! There's no intelligent life down here!" Used to express frustration and resignation with the ineptitude of the individuals with whom the speaker is interacting or with society at large.
* "Big bucks, no whammies..." From Press Your Luck. This also occurs in GSN's revival series Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck (often called Whammy! for short).
* "Buongiorno, principessa!" - Guido (Roberto Benigni) to Dora (Nicoletta Braschi) in Life is Beautiful
C
* "Captain's log..." - various captains in the Star Trek universe, usually as a voiceover of the captain's log to give a quick summary or mention of events, as well as giving insight into the events of the show.
* "Come on down!" - The announcer from The Price is Right. Except for in the opening, this is immediately followed by "You're the next contestant on The Price is Right!" (In the opening, since about 1976, the "You're the next contestant..." is replaced by another "Come on down!" after the first three times. After the fourth contestant is called, the words "next contestant" are changed to "the first four contestants".)
* "Cowabunga!" - Originally used by Chief Thunderthud on "The Howdy Doody Show," a 1950s children's television program, it was a nonsense word meant to sound Native American. Later it was adopted by Snoopy in the Peanuts comic strip in the 1960s followed by Sesame Streets Cookie Monster in the 1970s In the 1990s The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (especially Michaelangelo) continued to keep the word in popular culture. The phrase was first popular in the California surfer culture, but gained widespread awareness through the comics.
D
* "Danger, Will Robinson!" - The Robot from Lost in Space
* "The devil made me do it." - Flip Wilson as "Geraldine" on The Flip Wilson Show.
* "D'oh!" - Homer Simpson in The Simpsons
* "Did you get that memo?" - Bill Lumbergh in Office Space - Always said with a special intonation. Used in the US, especially the IT industry, to jokingly refer to information someone has received multiple times or, more vaguely, any unimportant piece of information such as when two people wear the same clothes they may say to someone who dressed differently "did you get that memo?"
* "Different strokes for different folks." - Sly & the Family Stone, from their 1968/1969 hit "Everyday People"
* "Don't have a cow, man!" - Bart Simpson on The Simpsons, an expression that predates the Simpsons by at least a generation
* "Don't hate her because she's beautiful". - From an advertising campaign in the 1980s with Kelly LeBrock for Pantene saying "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful". Widely used in the media to describe attractive celebrities.
* "Donut" - Homer Simpson in The Simpsons- not so much a catch phrase as a catch tone, the hard "o" and "u" are elongated to "Dooonuut". The tone is sometimes used in the US to refer to any item a person has a strong desire for, usually food. e.g. Steaaaak, marshmallooows.
E
* "Eat my shorts!" - Bart Simpson in The Simpsons
* "Elvis has left the building!" - Al Dvorin announcement over public address after Elvis Presley concert to induce fans to leave
* "Elementary, my Dear Watson" - Ascribed to fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, but in author Conan Doyle's stories, Holmes never actually utters this phrase.
* "Excellent!" - Bill and Ted, "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure"
* "Excuuuuuuuuse Meeeeeeeee!" - Steve Martin
* "Eeeeeexcellent!" - Mr. Burns in The Simpsons
F
* "Fascinating." - Mr. Spock in
* "Follow the money." - Deep Throat, in All The President's Men. Used when describing the root causes of a high-profile scandal.
* "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!" - Rhett Butler in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind; the last words he speaks to Scarlett O'Hara before leaving her.
* "Fire in the hole!" - popular phrase used in occasions such as first person shooters like Counter Strike and many many others when throwing grenades, it has become widely used whenever something said or done is supposed (but not guaranteed) to provoke a reaction
G
* "Gag me with a spoon!" - uttered by Moon Unit Zappa in a song "Valley Girl" composed by her father Frank Zappa. The term was used among female teenagers in the 1970's San Fernando Valley in California, but gained national usage with Zappa's song. The phrase means "I'm disgusted" or "That's disgusting". Sometimes exaggerated to "gag me with a pitchfork!"
* "Giggity, giggity..." - exclaimed by Glen Quagmire on the TV series Family Guy, often ad infititum. Quagmire usually thruts his head back and forth when he says his catch phrase. The phrase has begun to be used primarily among the twenty-something males who constitute the show's target market.
* "Go ahead, make my day." - Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan in Sudden Impact
* "Groovy." - used by the beatniks of the 1950s to describe especially good jazz music and revived in the 1970s by the disco culture. Later popularized by Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams in Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness This and a number of other phrases from these films made their way into the comments of the title character in Duke Nukem 3D.
H
* "HAAA! I kill me!" - Alf, from the 1980s sitcom, ALF
* "Half an hour later in Newfoundland." - at the end of any network program time-slot announcement on the CBC
* "Hara hetaaa..." - Son Gōku in Gensomaden Saiyuki, it means "I'm hungry".
* "H'Arsenal!" - Eric Morecambe (originally a quiz answer disguised as a cough, thereafter a random interjection)
* "Hasta la vista, baby." - The Terminator, . Literally in Spanish, hasta la vista means "Until we see each other again", and is a friendly good-bye. However in the context of the film, it was uttered as a final terminal good-bye to an opponent the Terminator was trying to kill. The phrase is now often used by sportscasters during their commentaries to refer to baseballs that have been hit out of the stadium (and will never be seen again).
* "Heavens to Murgatroyd!" - Exclamation of Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Snagglepuss.
* "Holy _____, Batman!" - An exclamation of Robin from the Batman television series. The word after "Holy" was different in every episode, depending on (and referencing) plot circumstances. Examples range from "Holy popcorn, Batman!" to "Holy contributing to the delinquency of minors, Batman!" Actor Burt Ward was given this phrase in non-"Batman" films, such as one B-picture in which he encounters an overly-well-endowed young woman and blurts out "Holy Headlights!"
* "Houston, we have a problem." - from the movie Apollo 13. It is a paraphrasing of the original quote from Jack Swigert which was "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here." Oft-cited in the business world when a project is not going according to plan.
I
* "I am not an animal. I am a human being!" - John (Joseph) Merrick in the movie The Elephant Man. Uttered in the every day world when one is jokingly conveying personal stress or frustration. Often shortened to "I am not an animal. . .I am a man!!!"
* "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto." - misrepresentation of a line of film dialogue spoken by Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) in The Wizard of Oz (actual dialogue: "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore"). Generally invoked as a catch phrase when someone is feeling out of his or her element, in a place very different from home.
* "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." - Johnnie Cochran during closing arguments in the O.J. Simpson murder trial in 1995. Often misquoted as "If the glove does not fit, you must acquit." In every day usage, "If the {noun} does not {verb}, then you must {verb that rhymes with first verb}." Parodied in a Chrysler commercial in 2005 when rapper Snoop Dogg proclaims "If the ride is more fly, then you must buy."
* "If you build it, they will come" - from the mysterious voice to Kevin Costner in the movie Field of Dreams. The actual phrase in the movie was "If you build it, HE (Shoeless Joe Jackson) will come", and referred to the construction of a baseball stadium. Used in the real world to describe any ambitious real estate plan in the tourism industry that requires a large financial investment.
* "If you smell what the Rock is cookin'!" - signature catchphrase by The Rock during his time as a WWE wrestler. Synonymous with the phrase, "If you know what I mean", or "If you know what I'm saying."
* "I'll be back." - The Terminator, later becoming actor Arnold Schwarzenegger's trademark one-liner in subsequent movies.
* "I'd buy that for a dollar!" - Slogan uttered in several fictitious television commercials within the movie RoboCop. Sometimes quoted as "I'll buy that for a dollar!". In every day usage, the phrase means "I'll accept that gladly" http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=I'll+buy+that+for+a+dollar, however it could also be used when referring to items that are on sale, or when referring to expensive items. The source of this may have been the C. M. Kornbluth satirical story "The Marching Morons", which postulated a future earth with an average IQ of 45 with "Would you buy that for a quarter?" as a catchphrase.
* "I'll get you, my pretty! And your little dog too!" -- Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) in The Wizard of Oz *
* "I'll rate it" - Catch phrase coined by budding Australian cricketer Stephen Whalan. Now used extensively in many aspects of Australian culture
* "I'm a doctor, not a _______" - Dr. Leonard McCoy of Star Trek, protesting any non-medical duties he is given. The phrase can be completed whichever way the requested task would indicate; e.g., when asked to repair a silicon-based life form using cement, McCoy replied, "I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer." It was also adopted by The Doctor in .
* "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me." - Stuart Smalley, in the "Daily Affirmation" skits on Saturday Night Live.
* "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV." - Peter Bergman (differentiating from his doctor character, Cliff Warner, on All My Children) in Vicks 44 TV commercial
* "Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" - Mae West
* "Is that your final answer?" - Regis Philbin from the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionare?
* "Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" - Mae West
* "Isn't that special?" - Church Lady, as played by Dana Carvey in Saturday Night Live. In every day usage, the phrase is a sarcastic way to convey derision or scepticism.
* "It's a bird...it's a plane...it's _________!/?" - often said in parody of the introduction to the Superman cartoon.
* "It's alive!" - Dr. Frankenstein beholding his awakening monster. Used in the everyday world when one is fixing a malfunctioning electronic machine or device, the power is flipped on, and the device successfully activates.
* "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature." - "Mother Nature" from Chiffon margarine commercials ("...if you think it's butter, but it's not, it's Chiffon").
J
* "Jane, you ignorant slut." - Said by Dan Aykroyd to Jane Curtin during their "Point/Counterpoint" segment on Saturday Night Lives "Weekend Update".
* "Just say no" - U.S. First Lady Nancy Reagan, spearheading her anti-drug campaign and best known in the UK as a song by the cast of children's television programme Grange Hill with the same message
K
* "Kaze no you ni hayaku!" - Samurai in the Super Friends cartoon series. This mystical incantation means in Japanese "As fast as the wind!"
* "Klaatu barada nikto" - from the 1951 Cold-War-era science fiction film The Day The Earth Stood Still. The phrase "Gort, Klaatu barada nikto" was used to stop Gort, the robot in the film, from attacking.
L
* "Leapin' lizards!" - comic strip character Little Orphan Annie
* "Let's roll" - phrase allegedly spoken by United Airlines Flight 93 passenger and 9/11 victim Todd Beamer and overheard via cellphone by his wife Lisa; later used by George W. Bush and others to signify American determination in the months after 9/11
M
* "May the Force be with you!" - attributed to Obi-Wan Kenobi, played by Sir Alec Guinness in although Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and General Dodonna (Alex McCrindle) were the only characters in the film to say the line. The closest Guinness came to saying it was "The Force will be with you, always."
* "Make it So" - Captain Jean-Luc Picard, played by Patrick Stewart in the TV seriers ' ' meaning "You have my permission to do what you just proposed."
* "Most illogical" - Mr. Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy in the TV series
N
* "Nanoo, nanoo" - Robin Williams as Mork from Ork in Mork and Mindy
* "...Not!!!" - Wayne (Mike Myers) and Garth (Dana Carvey) of Saturday Night Live skit-turned-movie Wayne's World - used to negate some statement they just made which they don't actually believe. Unwittingly anticipated in an episode of the 1950s TV series The Adventures of Superman, when Jimmy Olsen asked Perry White for some ridiculous favor, and Perry responded, "Definitely...NOT!" A terminal not for sarcastic negation appears in Pigs is Pigs, a 1905 humorous story by Ellis Parker Butler, in which a comic Irish character says: "I wonder do thim clerks know Misther Morehouse? I'll git it! Oh, yes! 'Misther Morehouse, two an' a quarter, plaze.' 'Cert'nly, me dear frind Flannery. Delighted!' Not!"
* "No problem!" - Alf, from the 1980s sitcom, ALF.
* "Not that there's anything wrong with that." - Jerry Seinfeld. Normally used as a follow-up, detracting phrase when one realizes they have just uttered a faux pas, which suggests they are being judgemental. Often a back-handed observation of political correctness. Used in the Seinfeld episode "The Outing", each time George or Jerry deny that they're gay.
O
* "Oh, behave!" - Austin Powers to his models
* "Oh, bother!" - Winnie the Pooh's typical expression when things are not going well. A very old-fashioned, triple-G rated expression. The ship's captain in the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, H.M.S. Pinafore, musically asserts, "Though 'bother it' I may / occasionally say / I never use a big, big 'D'!"
* "Oh my God, they killed Kenny! You bastards!" - Signature catchphrase in the cartoon South Park by the characters Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski whenever their friend Kenny McCormick is killed in an over-the-top or humorous way, which would happen in every episode of the series, up until the end of the fifth season, when Kenny was "permanently" killed off for good (he later returned at the beginning of the seventh season, although he's now killed very rarely).
* "Oh boy..." - Sam Beckett's usual phrase before the main title rolls.
P
* "Page Two!" - radio commentator Paul Harvey. (The "a" in "page" is given a longer stress than usual.) Normally used to express smug impatience when attempting to change the subject of a conversation. Harvey himself merely used it as a verbal cue for the next commercial break.
* "Permission to speak, sir." - Corporal Jones in Dad's Army
* "Play it again, Sam!" - attributed to Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart, in Casablanca, though never actually spoken in the film. Condensed from Ingrid saying to "Sam" (Dooley Wilson), "Play it, Sam!" and Bogie saying, "You played it for her, you can play it for me; if she can stand it, so can I... Play it!" ("It" was "their song", As Time Goes By)
* "...Priceless." - Master Card slogan, after listing the prices of commodities that lead to something sentimental that can not be bought
Q
R
* "Resistance is futile" - The Borg in Star Trek. Predated by "Resistance is useless" in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
S
* "Schwing!" (also "sha-WING") - Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as Wayne and Garth in Wayne's World (both on Saturday Night Live, and the subsequent movies). Said in reaction to a 'fox' or 'babe', though generalized to be used in reaction to anything attractive. Sometimes accompanied by thrusting up with the hips and pulling arms in. Meant to simulate an erection. The sound of this word is somewhat similar to that of a sword being drawn.
* "Screw you guys, I'm going home!" - Eric Cartman of South Park to anybody (usually Kyle Broflovski) whenever he's proven wrong or pissed off
* "Shocked, shocked to [discover something]!" - In Casablanca, Claude Raines as Capt. Renault says Rick's must be closed down, because he is shocked, shocked to find gambling is going on there! He is then presented with his gambling winnings. In everyday usage, the phrase is best used to convey that someone is displaying hypocritical shock, but people also use it to refer to a sense of shock that may be sincere but still seems naive because it is caused by a well-known, if lamentable, phenomenon.
* "Show me the money!" - Key phrase of fictional pro football player Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s Academy Award winning role); repeated loudly by Tom Cruise as the title character in Jerry Maguire
T
* "Take this job and shove it." - From the 1977 hit song "Take this job and shove it" written by David Allan Coe and sung by Johnny Paycheck. A movie by the same name was released in 1981. Used in the every day world to describe one's dissatisfaction with one's vocation or employer.
* "Thank you, sir! May I have another?" - Uttered by Kevin Bacon's character in the comedy movie Animal House when being painfully spanked as part of a fraternity initiation rite. In the real world, the phrase is used as an ironic or sarcastic way to describe any personal difficult situation to which the victim would not wish to be subjected again.
* "That's just my opinion...I could be wrong." - The common end to any of Dennis Miller's infamous Rants.
* "The British are coming! The British are coming!" - Paul Revere, while riding his horse through Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, to warn the townspeople of the British invasion during the American Revolutionary War. In modern times, the phrase has been used by the American media as a humorous way to describe favorably the importation and adoption of British celebrities, fashion, styles, and music, such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
* "The buck stops here" - United States president Harry S. Truman
* "The butler did it!" - a catch phrase that doesn't come from anywhere but that was created to satirise murder mysteries in which the least likely person is guilty.
* "This looks like a job for Superman." Clark Kent (the old Superman cartoon series). In the real world, humorously refers to any mildly difficult problem that is probably solvable by the speaker.
* "Throw another shrimp on the barbie" - Erroneously quoted variation of a Paul Hogan line in a series of Australian Tourist Board commercials on American television. The actual line is "I'll slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for you."
* "TIMMEH!" - Catchphrase of wheelchair-bound, mentally handicapped South Park character Timmy, who's only able to say his own name
* "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." - Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) in The Wizard of Oz (1939) Very often misquoted as "We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto". This is often said in a context where the sayer feels like he is unexpectedly in a place far away from home.
U
V
W
* "Waaaassssssuuuuuup?!?" - exclamation heard ad-nauseum on a series of Budweiser beer TV advertisements. This expression has circulated henceforth in various arenas of communication.
* "Whaddaya want? Wicker?" - winner of a catch phrase contest on the Late Show with David Letterman
* "What a country!" - used by Russian-born comedianYakov Smirnoff to indicate delight or bafflement about something typically American
* "What you see is what you get." - Flip Wilson as "Geraldine" on The Flip Wilson Show (see also WYSIWYG)
* "What'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" - Gary Coleman as Arnold Jackson in Diff'rent Strokes
* "What's up, Doc?" - Bugs Bunny
* "Where's the Beef?" - Clara Peller in commercials for Wendy's
* "When I say run, run!" - The Second Doctor, in Doctor Who
* "Will the real ________ please stand up?" - said by every host of To Tell the Truth just before one of three civilian challengers distinguishes him/herself from the two impostors. Later adopted by Eminem for his song "The Real Slim Shady."
Y
* "Yada, yada, yada" - "and on and on and on". Possibly comes from the Norwegian for "yeah, yeah". Made popular by Seinfeld.
* "You ain't seen nothin' yet!" - Originally Al Jolson, later re-popularised by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. The phrase came from the first words heard on the track of the partly-spoken, partly-silent movie The Jazz Singer. Jolson's actual first spoken words were, "Wait a minute! Wait a minute! You ain't heard nothin' yet!"
* "You are the weakest link. Goodbye!" - Anne Robinson on The Weakest Link (also George Gray on the syndicated version and international versions). In a TV interview, Robinson said that the clipped "G'bye!" originated from her aunt, who would and abruptly end a conversation with "G'bye!" when she grew tired.
* "You look maaahvelous!" - Billy Crystal in parody of Fernando Lamas on Saturday Night Live
* "You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me?" - Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver
* "Yowza, Yowza, Yowza!" - Chachi Arcola from American television comedy Happy Days. Colloquial, emphatic variation on "Yes Sir", dating back several generations at least. In every day usage, indicates jubilation or surprise.
* "You're Fired!", Donald Trump in the television show The Apprentice
Z
See also
* List of signature phrases
External references
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertain...lm/3945809.stm 2004 BBC News article on a Nationwide poll of Odeon cinema managers regarding the top catch phrases of all time. From the article: "Catchphrases from films have always managed to find their way into everyday language," said Odeon brand manager Kate MacFarlane.
For other uses see Catch phrase (disambiguation)
A catch phrase is a phrase or expression that becomes spontaneously popularized (i.e., it "catches" on) through widespread repeated usage. Catch phrases often originate in popular culture (such as movies and television), and are spread through a variety of media, including word of mouth.
