Matthew Brock (Andy Dick) said it on NewsRadio, and the way he said it made it sound like an old line when it was used then.
WHEW. I was going down this thread thinking, “what, are there no NewsRadio fans in this damn thread?”
Phil Hartman’s Bill McNeal certainly used the line, possibly in one of the episodes where he took over Dave’s job (the one where he installs a piano instead of a desk).
G’day.
We know what it means; the question is when this exact phrasing became popular.
This is from where it came:
I just saw it near the end of “A Yank at Oxford” (1938), when the Dean is telling young Wavertree that he will not be expelled (Wavertree wanted to be, though):
Dean: Good day!
Wavertree: but…but…
Dean: I said good day!
Pretty classic construction, and possibly one of the first uses in film (although the Scrooge “Good afternoon” may have been sooner).
Adam Carolla had a hilarious bit on Loveline about “I said GOOD DAY!” but I don’t know what year, I’m pretty sure it was before the new Willy Wonka movie.
The clip that shows the scene from the OP’s 7 year old post?
Yes, but the wonka movie people are referencing is the 1970’s Wonka, which predates Loveline by quite a bit.
From my understanding president Lincoln said this shortly after becoming elected. He was considered to be a bit of an outsider/bumpkin, between both where he came from and his slow speech patterns. A number of traditional political interests helped him become elected and assumed that a)he didn’t really know what he was doing as he wasn’t an insider, so he could be pushed around, and b)because they helped him get elected he was beholden to them. They came in on effectively the first day he was in office and tried to push him into doing their bidding, to which he responded: Good day to you sirs. They kept pushing, to which he replied I said good day & then had them escorted out.
Long story short, he really did follow up on that and did not buckle to the pressure of those who helped get him elected (and assumed that would give them control of him).
I cannot find verification of this online, but I remember one of my history teachers relating this story to me in ~1997 quite clearly. It was the first time I heard the phrase, and it smacked of lincoln stubborn and badass qualities which he continued to display throughout his presidency.
I said, “Zombie Thread!”, sir!
I’ve read a lot about Lincoln over the years, and have never heard this story.
An earlier thread: "Good day, sir. . ." - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board
I just saw the HBO miniseries John Adams. Mr. Adams says “Good day, sir!” in this manner twice - to his importunate son-in-law, and later to two Cabinet secretaries he just sacked.
Actually, this thread was started before the one you linked to (2005 vs. 2009). The only reason I mention this is because post #26 in that thread mentions a previous thread on the subject and then links to this thread. And we all fall into the endless loop of teh intertoobz…
Although there is a scene where Willie Wonka says “Good Day, Sir!” I don’t think it’s the right reference. The quote asked about is “I said Good Day, Sir.” Dustin Hoffman’s female character says this as part of her screen test for the soap opera: “Good Day, Dr. Brewster. I said Good Day, Sir.”
The first time I heard “Good day sir… I said good day sir!” was a bit from a Robot Chicken Star Wars Spoof… Dr. Ball:
It is spoken six seconds into the clip above.
It’s from Tootsie, when Dustin Hoffman is auditioning for the role in the soap opera. It was bothering me and a couple of coworkers all week and we figured it out.
Willy Wonka predated Tootsie, as noted a mere two posts above yours.
Seeing as how we have an earlier post in this thread identifying this phrase used in a movie from 1938, I’m not really sure why everyone keeps mentioning Willy Wonka and Tootsie.
Agreed. And I think some people are missing the idea that we are not looking for the origins of the sincere version of the statement way back in the 19th century or whenever it was, but its origins as a comedic, ironic quip delivered with an implicit wink.
And I always thought that was from an episode of* Dr. Katz* on Comedy Central that originally aired in August 1998. As it happens, that was the day after the pilot of That 70s Show aired. I doubt Fez used the phrase that early, and if it was at least a few months later that he first used it, I bet it was inspired by the comedian on Dr. Katz.
Anyway, watch from 20:37 to 21:25. Or if 48 seconds is too much of your time, you can watch the last 10 seconds or so without the context:
John Stewart started hosting The Daily Show, on the same network as Dr. Katz, the very next year, 1999. So I would tend to strongly suspect this is where he got it, anyway.
ETA: It is sometimes frustrating to me that I remember trivial things like this from the 20th century–the last millennium!–when my memory is so poor about what I did yesterday, or five minutes ago, or what I was saying 30 seconds ago…