# Origin of quote, "I said GOOD DAY, sir!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 19, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876 "2005-06-19T03:23:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eb8c5e/32.png) [@gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gentle)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/1 "2005-06-19T03:23:45Z")
The phrase is usually haughtily enounced in a upper-class British accent, as though one is about to stomp off in a huff. Jon Stewart uses it frequently on _The Daily Show_, and Google returns a lot of similar references. The only lead I have found is that Willy Wonka has a similar line in _Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory_, but I don’t remember the tone of the dialogue to say for certain whether it matches. ---
**Author:** ![Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/2 "2005-06-19T04:13:01Z")
I’m thinking it’s how polite society used to brush people off, and visibly show anger without breaking any huge rules of etiquette. ---
**Author:** ![Large\_Marge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/3 "2005-06-19T04:18:03Z")
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/4 "2005-06-19T04:31:27Z")
It’s Fez’s tag line in _That 70s Show_, too. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/5 "2005-06-19T04:37:43Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > It’s Fez’s tag line in _That 70s Show_, too. And Fez does it the very best. “Now good day!” “But Fez–” (holding up hand)“ISAIDGOODDAY!” ---
**Author:** ![Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/6 "2005-06-19T04:39:50Z")
John Zoidberg, M.D., does a pretty good one too. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/7 "2005-06-19T05:21:52Z")
I’d go with **Stark Raven Mad** ’s initial explanation. I doubt that you will find a “first use” (although you might check Jane Austen or one of her contemporaries). Tolkien employed it in the opening scene of The Hobbit (using “Good Morning” instead of “Good Day” and letting Gandalf do a little riff on the various meanings which Bilbo has invested in the phrase in a very short conversation). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/8 "2005-06-19T05:31:13Z")
> [@gentle](#): > > The only lead I have found is that Willy Wonka has a similar line in _Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory_, but I don’t remember the tone of the dialogue to say for certain whether it matches. Wonka delivers the line in a tone of extreme anger. It’s near the end of the movie, after he’s ordered Charlie and Grampa Joe to leave and given a long list of their offenses, concluding with “GOOD DAY, SIR!” They start to protest, and Wonka turns and yells again “I SAID GOOD DAY!” This probably popularized the phrase and that’s definitely what I think of when I hear people say it, but if you notice, it’s a case of “Play it again, Sam.” Wonka never actually says “I said good day sir.” And I didn’t realize that until halfway through the post, and I checked IMDb to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/9 "2005-06-19T06:05:45Z")
**Stark Raven Mad** probably nailed it. I can find a use of the device in an 1876 Chicago Tribune news story. A defendant in a trial tells a badgering newspaper reporter, “I bid you good day, sir.” And he means “quit asking me questions which I’m not going to answer.” ---
**Author:** ![Large\_Marge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/10 "2005-06-19T06:32:50Z")
> [@gentle](#): > > The phrase is usually haughtily enounced in a upper-class British accent, as though one is about to stomp off in a huff. Jon Stewart uses it frequently on _The Daily Show_, and Google returns a lot of similar references. The only lead I have found is that Willy Wonka has a similar line in _Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory_, but I don’t remember the tone of the dialogue to say for certain whether it matches. I’m sorry, **gentle**. I didn’t see that you had mentioned Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory right in the OP. :smack: Whenever I hear that line–and I heard it this week on The Daily Show–I always think of that same line from Wonka delivered by Gene Wilder, because typically, it is said in the same manner. Jon Stewart said it very much the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Sarah\_Woodruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sarah\_Woodruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarah_Woodruff)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/11 "2005-06-19T07:43:11Z")
The utterance “I said-I said Good Day, Sir!” said by a haughty old man with an English accent is ringing major bells with me…like it’s from a specific TV or radio show. Either _The Goon Show_… Or maybe the Major from _Fawlty Towers_… Something of that nature. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/12 "2005-06-19T09:16:10Z")
The phrase has “music hall” acts written all over it. It’s a convienient exit line just as much as “I say, I say, I say!” is an entry line So it’s probably been in show business forever. **Comedian 1:** [Enters] I say, I say, I say! **Comedian 2:** [Enters] ? **Comedian 1:** Joke setup… **Comedian 2:**? **Comedian 1:** Punchline, rimshot **Comedian 2:** I did not wish to know that, good day sir! [Both Exit] ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/13 "2005-06-19T12:36:30Z")
> [@Electronic Chaos](#): > > And Fez does it the very best. > > “Now good day!” > “But Fez–” > (holding up hand)“ISAIDGOODDAY!” For me it is one of the major weakness’s of the show. It was never that clever, but now having become totally predictable it is most annoying. But then, the whole character of Fez is rather annoying to me. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/14 "2005-06-19T13:12:37Z")
You will also find some similar in Dicken’s _A Christmas Carol_ when Scrooge is dismissing his nephew’s relentless good cheer: " Because you fell in love!" growled Scrooge, as if that were the only one thing in the world more ridiculous than a merry Christmas. “Good afternoon!” “Nay, uncle, but you never came to see me before that happened. Why give it as a reason for not coming now?” “Good afternoon,” said Scrooge. “I want nothing from you; I ask nothing of you; why cannot we be friends?” “Good afternoon,” said Scrooge. “I am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute. We have never had any quarrel, to which I have been a party. But I have made the trial in homage to Christmas, and I’ll keep my Christmas humour to the last. So A Merry Christmas, uncle!” “Good afternoon,” said Scrooge. “And A Happy New Year!” “Good afternoon!” said Scrooge. His nephew left the room without an angry word, notwithstanding. " ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/15 "2005-06-19T13:38:28Z")
Another vote for Wonka. All of my friends recognize the Stewart quote and the similar quote by Janeane Garofalo in Mystery Men as a reference to that classic scene between Grampa Joe and Wonka. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/16 "2005-06-19T13:41:38Z")
Dustin Hoffman in TOOTSIE, exiting Dr. Brewster’s office. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/17 "2005-06-19T13:58:43Z")
> [@Ms Boods](#): > > “Good afternoon,” said Scrooge." I associated the line with _A Christmas Carol_, too. Note that my first exposure to the story was the 1962 Mr. Magoo version. In this version, Magoo/Scrooge dismisses the two charity workers from his office by standing, shaking his fist at them, and shouting, “I bid you…GOOD AFTERNOON!” Then he returns to his desk and chortles: "That’s the beauty of it–I don’t pledge _anything!_ ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/18 "2005-06-19T14:24:42Z")
From just reading the title of the thread, I thought of Wonka. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/19 "2005-06-19T14:41:01Z")
Pretty sure Homer Simpson has said it too. ---
**Author:** ![gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eb8c5e/32.png) [@gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gentle)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876/20 "2005-06-19T16:48:56Z")
Thanks, everyone. Now I need to dig up a copy of _Wonka_ and watch it again. **Stark Raven Mad** , exactly. **Marley23** nailed the quote. As for the suggestions from **tomndebb** and others that it’s older than time itself to brush people off with a “good day” or some variation on this, naturally I realize this; but the quotation I’m chasing is said with a very specific emphasis: Jon Stewart in particular nails the tone in how he puffs himself up first and then puts a little space between each word. It sounds so familiar, I feel like this meme must have originated with some movie and TV show. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-quote-i-said-good-day-sir/308876.md?page=2)