# Origin of catchphrase "See what I did there?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 10, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-catchphrase-see-what-i-did-there/383562 "2006-12-10T13:44:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-catchphrase-see-what-i-did-there/383562/1 "2006-12-10T13:44:45Z")
Possibly this is for CS, but I’ll start in GQ 'cos it should have a simple answer… A friend seems to have noticed this catchphrase all over the blogosphere, sometimes with the second phrase tacked on: “See what I did there? [Comedy genius!]” Usually, it’s used in a wry, self-deprecating way to refer to one’s own flat puns or jokes, she says. She wants to know if there’s a definitive origin for it? Possibly a stand up comic or a Brit-com? Can anyone enlighten us? ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-catchphrase-see-what-i-did-there/383562/2 "2006-12-10T14:39:13Z")
I first heard it some 4–5 years ago, used by popular BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles in exactly the context your friend describes. It may not be original to him, but it fits perfectly with his on-air persona as “The Saviour of Radio 1”. I don’t recall hearing “Comedy genius” (though I haven’t listened to his show in some time), but that sounds like him (or his style) too. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-catchphrase-see-what-i-did-there/383562/3 "2006-12-10T18:50:06Z")
I’m almost sure I saw something like this on an episode (or more!) of Family Guy, spoken by Stewie. I have no idea when that (those?) episode(s) occurred, so that might not help you! ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-catchphrase-see-what-i-did-there/383562/4 "2006-12-10T20:55:28Z")
I’m pretty sure it’s from Friends. I think Friends contributed quite a few sayings to pop culture. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-catchphrase-see-what-i-did-there/383562/5 "2006-12-10T22:05:51Z")
I first heard the phrase in the movie “Mr. Saturday Night,” about a washed-up comedian. ---
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-catchphrase-see-what-i-did-there/383562/6 "2006-12-12T18:55:31Z")
[QUOTE=11811] I first heard the phrase in the movie “Mr. Saturday Night,” about a washed-up comedian. [/QUOTE] Close, but in that movie Billy Crystal was mimicking several of the old Vaudeville comedians that were still working when he was a kid. George Burns used it in his movie \* Going in Style (1979) \*, but it was most famous with Milton Berle.