# Movie/Book quote **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-book-quote/313592 "2005-07-22T04:18:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Corii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Corii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corii)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-book-quote/313592/1 "2005-07-22T04:18:21Z")
I tried to find the origin of this and failed - I remember it as a book quote but my SO thinks it was a movie. Paraphrased, the quote is “I could kill you ten different ways with this straw. Eleven if I kept the wrapper.” Help, it’s driving me crazy! ---
**Author:** ![kingrthr3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ad7895/32.png) [@kingrthr3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingrthr3)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-book-quote/313592/2 "2014-05-07T05:05:59Z")
I thought of this quote again as I sometimes do, and went to the internet to find where it was from. I was thrilled to find a Straight Dope thread on it, but then dismayed to see not a single reply in over 8 years. Also, it was posted by my wife. Anyone have any insight on where this quote is from? ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-book-quote/313592/3 "2014-05-09T17:33:20Z")
Okay, this probably isn’t it, but just in case. There was a short-lived TV show in 1992, called **Raven** , about a ninja hero. In one episode, he’s talking to a ninja villain who says something like, “There are nine ways I can kill you with what’s on this breakfast tray.” Instantly, Raven says something like, “Twelve! There are twelve ways you can die here!” It’s not exactly your quote, but it’s the way they talked on this series. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-book-quote/313592/4 "2014-05-10T18:14:33Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Okay, this probably isn’t it, but just in case. There was a short-lived TV show in 1992, called **Raven** , about a ninja hero. In one episode, he’s talking to a ninja villain who says something like, “There are nine ways I can kill you with what’s on this breakfast tray.” > > Instantly, Raven says something like, “Twelve! There are twelve ways you can die here!” > > It’s not exactly your quote, but it’s the way they talked on this series. The best part was the way the villain looked around, desperately trying to identify the killing devices he had missed… ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-book-quote/313592/5 "2014-05-13T01:55:50Z")
Sounds like something Leslie Nielsen would have said. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-book-quote/313592/6 "2014-05-13T02:08:12Z")
The quote sent me scrambling for the script to _Grosse Pointe Blank_, but that wasn’t it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-book-quote/313592/7 "2014-05-13T03:58:09Z")
Ive never heard the line before, but it’s a good one. I found a discussion of it (with no solution as to it origin) on a martial arts Board. And I found this: > [@](#): > > Even apparently well-grounded adults talk about the SEALs as the closest thing we know to comic book characters: They have superhuman powers to withstand cold, heights and fear! They have secret identities! They dive into the sea from submarines and leap from airplanes at 30,000 feet! They have cool zoomorphic job titles, like Spider-Man or Batman! They roll with the best high-tech gizmos and deadly toys! Even their trident insignia is snazzy! And such good manners! > > “They could kill you with a straw 13 different ways, but they’re really nice,” said Allen Norfolk, 52, the manager of Chicks, a rumored SEAL hangout off Shore Drive… [http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2011/05/13/they-could-kill-you-with-a-straw-13-different-ways-but-theyre-really-nice/](http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2011/05/13/they-could-kill-you-with-a-straw-13-different-ways-but-theyre-really-nice/) The page seems to suggest that it came from the Washington Post, but doesn’t give a date or particulars. The URL seems to indicate this page is from 2011, so it’s no later than that. Of course, the earlier Dope thread on this is from 2010, so that’s no help. And I doubt if you got the quote from an article. edited to add: imdb gives nothin’ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-book-quote/313592/8 "2014-05-13T04:06:48Z")
ooking on Google Books, I find that the phrase “I could kill you X different ways”, each with a different number for X, shows up a LOT of times, but: 1.) Most of them are since 2010 2.) None of them go on “…with this straw” 3.) None of them add an extra way if you leave in the wrapper (or anything else). People have a perverse imagination in coming up with things they could use in multiple ways to kill people. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-book-quote/313592/9 "2014-05-13T05:36:01Z")
I found the quote on TV Tropes. Its from something called _Itsa Living_, apparently. I’ve never heard of it. Maybe they mean [It’s a Living](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080233/). > **[Noodle Implements - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoodleImplements)** > > Sometimes the best way to describe something is to give a few hints and let imaginations run wild, especially if you aren't allowed or can't be bothered to get explicit. One common way is to imply the general feel and mention a few outlandish … (Live TV section) ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-book-quote/313592/10 "2014-05-13T17:27:27Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I found the quote on TV Tropes. Its from something called _Itsa Living_, apparently. I’ve never heard of it. Maybe they mean [It’s a Living](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080233/). > > [Noodle Implements - TV Tropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoodleImplements) > > (Live TV section) For some reason, that feels to me like maybe they ripped off the line from somewhere else and used it.