# Catch phrases fading with time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 1, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145 "2013-10-01T23:34:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/1 "2013-10-01T23:34:17Z")
In another thread, someone did not know where ‘He’s dead, Jim’ came from. New generations have come, and more are coming, that do not and will not have those cultural touchstones. So what are the catch phrases that will only be remembered by the oldsters? I’ll start: ‘Missed it my _that_ much.’ ‘Sorry about that, Chief!’ ‘That’s the _second_-biggest [noun] I’ve ever seen!’ ‘Would you believe…?’ ‘He’s dead, Jim.’ ‘Dammit, I’m a doctor; not a [profession]!’ ‘F-A-B!’ ‘OH! OH, OH!’ ‘Ba-ba-ba, ba-Barbarino!’ ‘Hold the bus! Hooooold the bus!’ ‘Sock it to me!’ OK, that’s enough for a start. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/2 "2013-10-01T23:36:20Z")
Where’s the Beef? ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/3 "2013-10-01T23:40:22Z")
What, me worry? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/4 "2013-10-01T23:58:20Z")
Now you’re on the trolley! ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/5 "2013-10-02T00:05:44Z")
Babaloo! Lucy, you got some ‘splainin’ to do! You bet your sweet bippy. Wanna buy a walnetto? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/6 "2013-10-02T00:13:21Z")
Dy-no-mite!!! ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/7 "2013-10-02T00:20:05Z")
To the moon (Alice)!! StG ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/8 "2013-10-02T00:24:29Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > In another thread, someone did not know where ‘He’s dead, Jim’ came from. New generations have come, and more are coming, that do not and will not have those cultural touchstones. So what are the catch phrases that will only be remembered by the oldsters? I’ll start: > > \ > ‘Dammit, I’m a doctor; not a [profession]!’ > \ ‘[Damnit, I’m a doctor, not a [profession]!](http://www.redbubble.com/people/mehproductions/works/9235018-just-a-country-doctor?country_code=US&p=t-shirt&utm_campaign=shopping&utm_medium=google_products&utm_source=google&gclid=CJP1__G99rkCFY6Z4AodiAYAIw#zoom)’ I don’t recognize all of them. I’m told there actually WAS a TOS episode where Bones said I’m a doctor, not an escalator! but you couldn’t prove it by me. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/9 "2013-10-02T00:38:19Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I don’t recognize all of them. I’m told there actually WAS a TOS episode where Bones said > > I’m a doctor, not an escalator! but you couldn’t prove it by me. There absolutely was. I’ve seen it many times. ---
**Author:** ![evasgram](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ec9cab/32.png) [@evasgram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evasgram)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/10 "2013-10-02T01:02:45Z")
Time to make the donuts. ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/11 "2013-10-02T01:03:48Z")
“I’d buy THAT for a dollar!” ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/12 "2013-10-02T01:10:04Z")
Also - “Kiss my grits!” ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/13 "2013-10-02T01:16:34Z")
Twenty-three skidoo! Oh, you kid! Fifty-Four Forty or Fight! Tippecanoe and Tyler Too! Remember the Maine! (too old?) ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/14 "2013-10-02T01:16:36Z")
Look that up in your Funk & Wagnalls. It’s time for the Fickle Finger of Fate Award… ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/15 "2013-10-02T01:20:10Z")
Yoo-hoo, Mrs. Bloom! ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/16 "2013-10-02T01:35:21Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > ‘[Damnit, I’m a doctor, not a [profession]!](http://www.redbubble.com/people/mehproductions/works/9235018-just-a-country-doctor?country_code=US&p=t-shirt&utm_campaign=shopping&utm_medium=google_products&utm_source=google&gclid=CJP1__G99rkCFY6Z4AodiAYAIw#zoom)’ > > I don’t recognize all of them. I’m told there actually WAS a TOS episode where Bones said > > I’m a doctor, not an escalator! but you couldn’t prove it by me. [Friday’s Child](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Friday%27s_Child_%28episode%29) Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/17 "2013-10-02T02:28:58Z")
I find it frustrating that in threads like this no one ever tells you what they’re referencing. From the OP, I got Star Trek and that’s it. I’m in my 30’s, so not _that_ new a generation. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/18 "2013-10-02T02:32:20Z")
A few months ago, at my then-job, I was going up in the elevator after break with some younger (twenty-something) co-workers. One of them said “I forgot to pay my bill! I have to call the Electric Company!” To which I responded by mock-yelling “HEY YOU GUYS!!!” They didn’t get it. “Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! Look - up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s SUPERMAN!!!” “Same Bat time…same Bat channel.” ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/19 "2013-10-02T02:41:10Z")
Here comes da judge! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145/20 "2013-10-02T02:52:35Z")
> [@Werekoala](#): > > “I’d buy THAT for a dollar!” It’s actually “Would you buy that for a quarter?” Once again, Cyril Kornbluth doesn’t get the credit he deserves. “Verrrry Interesting.” “You bet your bippy.” “It’s Sock it to me time.” “Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy.” “Hey, kids. What time is it?” “Would _you_ like to be Queen for a Day?” “Hi-ho, Silver! Away!” “Look up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!” “What a revolting development this is.” “Open Channel D.” “Wait a minute, Danger. What about my pickle?” “You knew the job was dangerous when you took it.” “Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat.” “Eenie Meany chili beany, the spirits are about the speak.” “Fan mail from a flounder?” “I’m smarter than the average bear.” “Exit stage right.” “Ka-bong!” “Would the mystery guest sign in please?” “Hi-ho, Steverino.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-phrases-fading-with-time/670145.md?page=2)