# Does anyone know the origin of the idiom "Wrong-O, reindeer"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-the-origin-of-the-idiom-wrong-o-reindeer/809220>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 20, 2018, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-the-origin-of-the-idiom-wrong-o-reindeer/809220 "2018-02-20T20:00:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9f8e36/32.png) [@Dchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dchild)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-the-origin-of-the-idiom-wrong-o-reindeer/809220/1 "2018-02-20T20:00:35Z")

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As I was writing an email to a co-worker, the phrase, “Wrong-O, reindeer” popped into my pea-sized brain. I knew I had not conjured it up from the beyond, but could not find its origin. I do see that others have used it, and friends my age were familiar with it, too.

Does anyone know its origin?

The best theory was offered by my ex-wife, who thought it was formed as a result of the commercial referenced here ([7 UP Un-Deer Commercials from 1970s | MetaFilter](https://www.metafilter.com/97592/7-UP-UnDeer-Commercials-from-1970s)), though the language is not directly from it. Plausible, perhaps, but that is an un-deer, not a reindeer.

I appreciate the assistance of anyone who answers.

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-the-origin-of-the-idiom-wrong-o-reindeer/809220/2 "2018-02-20T20:59:45Z")

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It’s “Wrong-O, reindeer-breath”, supposedly a Johnny Carson exclamation.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9f8e36/32.png) [@Dchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dchild)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-the-origin-of-the-idiom-wrong-o-reindeer/809220/3 "2018-02-20T22:51:15Z")

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> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> It’s “Wrong-O, reindeer-breath”, supposedly a Johnny Carson exclamation.

Thank you, Czarcasm. I appreciate you responding.

A Carnac response to Ed?

Do you have a citation? I don’t find any documentary evidence when I searched using variations of “Wrong-O,” “Johnny Carson”, “reindeer,” etc.