# Comforting someone with, "There, there"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 1, 2023, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comforting-someone-with-there-there/992424 "2023-11-01T16:04:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comforting-someone-with-there-there/992424/21 "2023-11-03T21:28:55Z")
There’s a scene in The Producers, which I have failed to find on video, in which Franz Liebkind is sobbing, and Leo Bloom comforts him: Bloom: There, there. Liebkind: Where? Where? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comforting-someone-with-there-there/992424/22 "2023-11-03T22:23:21Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > American, “There, there.” > > British, “Hear, hear.” > > Canadian, “Hey, hey.” > > Australian, “Goober-Polly.” > > Scottish (grabs his pipes…) You left out Irish, which I suppose would be Carolans? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comforting-someone-with-there-there/992424/23 "2023-11-04T00:34:32Z")
In Catch 22, Yossarian is treating a grievously wounded crew member and comforts him with the useless phrase. Anytime I hear it, I think of that scene in the book. “I’m cold,’ Snowden said softly, ‘I’m cold.’ ‘You’re going to be all right, kid,’ Yossarian reassured him with a grin. ‘You’re going to be all right.’ ‘I’m cold,’ Snowden said again in a frail, childlike voice. ‘I’m cold.’ ‘There, there,’ Yossarian said, because he did not know what else to say. ‘There, there.’ ‘I’m cold,’ Snowden whimpered. ‘I’m cold.’ 'There, there. There, there.” ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comforting-someone-with-there-there/992424/24 "2023-11-04T00:40:16Z")
Wildabeast quoted from the back of the bomber up in post #9 ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comforting-someone-with-there-there/992424/25 "2023-11-04T00:44:38Z")
Ah, I missed that. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comforting-someone-with-there-there/992424/26 "2023-11-06T18:12:05Z")
When I was in high school you got to pick your own book to read from an approved list, and I chose Catch-22. I wrote a poem about that scene. Still one of my favorite books. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2023, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comforting-someone-with-there-there/992424/27 "2023-11-09T22:57:32Z")
Mine too. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2023, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comforting-someone-with-there-there/992424/28 "2023-11-09T23:06:41Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Anytime I hear it, I think of that scene in the book. I feel like for anyone who’s ever read _Catch-22_, that scene is impossible to forget. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comforting-someone-with-there-there/992424/29 "2023-11-09T23:16:39Z")
I actually use the phrase when I’m driving to the park with my dog and he’s losing his mind in the back seat. I say it just like Alan Arkin in the movie. My wife will say, “help him, help him,” and I say “there, there.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comforting-someone-with-there-there/992424.md?page=1)