# I'll be here all week. Try the veal. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 3, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-be-here-all-week-try-the-veal/338229 "2006-01-03T15:53:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-be-here-all-week-try-the-veal/338229/1 "2006-01-03T15:53:33Z")
Little quips like “try the veal” and “remember to tip your servers” often appear after bad one-liners in SDMB posts, and on many other message baords. We know comedians always used likes like this after their performance, but I never saw people using it outside of comedy acts until fairly recently. Is this a reference to some pop culture meme or movie line, like “Vote for Pedro” and the like? ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-be-here-all-week-try-the-veal/338229/2 "2006-01-03T15:57:01Z")
The meme would be ‘generic nightclub comedian schtick’, I think. I’ve seen/heard it for years and years. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-be-here-all-week-try-the-veal/338229/3 "2006-01-03T15:59:02Z")
I associate it with Xander from ‘Buffy’-- he probably only said it once… early third season?? ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-be-here-all-week-try-the-veal/338229/4 "2006-01-03T16:04:57Z")
I associate it with Shrek. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-be-here-all-week-try-the-veal/338229/5 "2006-01-03T21:32:51Z")
It’s a generic reference to dinner theatre, the bottom rung of comedy venues, where the usually lame joke that precedes the line would fit right in. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-be-here-all-week-try-the-veal/338229/6 "2006-01-03T22:30:02Z")
I’ve heard it untold dozens of times in popular culture. It left the world of comedy ages ago. No specifics about when first heard though. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-be-here-all-week-try-the-veal/338229/7 "2006-01-03T23:24:57Z")
Doesn’t Jay Leno say it a lot? That could account for it’s catching on. ---
**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:** [January 3, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-be-here-all-week-try-the-veal/338229/8 "2006-01-03T23:27:16Z")
Resort and cruise ship gigs, too. Hence the “here all week” part of it. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-be-here-all-week-try-the-veal/338229/9 "2006-01-03T23:28:46Z")
Catching on? Cripes I’ve been saying it after a lousy joke since I was six years old. I probably heard it from Grover or something. However, I always just assumed it was lounge-lizard glib. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-be-here-all-week-try-the-veal/338229/10 "2006-01-04T01:59:20Z")
Many of these sorts of phrases have their origin in the “[Borscht Belt](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borscht_belt)” – the cluster of resorts and clubs in the Catskills that were a popular vacation spot for many (often Jewish) New Yorkers in the 40s, 50s and 60s, and that consequently became a proving ground for a generation of stand up comedians. Think Milton Berle, Shelley Berman, Don Rickles, Shecky Greene, Rodney Dangerfield, etc.