# Origin of the anguished cry, "It burns! It burns!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 27, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788 "2008-05-27T17:55:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/1 "2008-05-27T17:55:21Z")
What TV show or movie first featured it? Can’t quite figure it out, and it seems to crop up in comedic contexts nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![A.I.Wintermute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@A.I.Wintermute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.I.Wintermute)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/2 "2008-05-27T18:02:19Z")
We’ll have to wait for our resident Simpsons experts to confirm this, but google leads me to suspect it. IMDB gives the Simpsons rendition as “Homer: I see the light… it burns!” Source: [IMDB Simpsons page](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096697/quotes). Edit: a few other sites also feature some version of this: Wink: Don’t worry. That “lava” is just Orange Ade, made by our sponsor Osaka Orange Ade Concern. Homer: It burns! It burns! Wink: It’s loaded with wasabi! I had originally thought you were referring to [these kinds of references](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=ZV3&q=%22the+*%21+it+burns%21%22&btnG=Search%5B/url), but this second Simpsons quote better matches your OP I guess. Either way it’s looking likely the Simpsons are to blame. ---
**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 27, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/3 "2008-05-27T18:18:49Z")
There are lots of places it might have come from. Gollum, of course, in **The Two Towers** says of the magic elven-rope that Frodo ties to his ankle “It burns us! It burns us!” In the often-overlooked British SF sequel **Quatermass II** (called **Enemy from Space** in the US), the MP goes to see what Horrible Secret the company they’re investigating is keeping in its pressure tanks (and which is supposed to be some sort of futuristic food). He comes down covered with smoking black stuff and, before dying, tells Quatermass “The food – it burns! It burns!” [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050873/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050873/) Both those examples are from the 1950s. I don’t know of earlier ones. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/4 "2008-05-27T18:30:59Z")
I thought it was from “The Exorcist,” but that “The Simpsons” had a lot to do with it’s recent popularity. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/5 "2008-05-27T18:31:35Z")
I’m most famliar with it from The Exorcist. Given the campiness and excesses of the demonic scenes, I’d suspect that’s what gives the phrase all the play. ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/6 "2008-05-27T18:34:55Z")
another vote for The Exorcist. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/7 "2008-05-27T18:41:16Z")
[QUOTE=plnnr] I’m most famliar with it from The Exorcist. Given the campiness and excesses of the demonic scenes, I’d suspect that’s what gives the phrase all the play. [/QUOTE] Well it may seem that way now but to the 1973 movie-going public that wasn’t the case. There are numerous accounts that the film was a bit intense for its time with portions of the audience walking out having been spooked out of their wits or moved beyond their level of comfort from some of the on-screen blasphemy. Movie house managers at the time were also reminded to make sure their supply of kitty litter was fully replenished for audience members who would lose their cookies during the film’s initial run. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/8 "2008-05-27T18:54:16Z")
I thought “The Exorcist,” too…but doesn’t it also come up in “The Wizard of Oz”? ETA: Hmm, no, googling gets me nothing–I think I misremembered. ---
**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:** [May 27, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/9 "2008-05-27T19:15:49Z")
I agree that it must have been The Exorcist. There is a scene where Karras sprinkles the demon with ordinary water, claiming it’s holy water (at this point he doesn’t really believe there’s a demon). The demon does a very exaggerated suffering bit (“It burns! It burns!”) just to confuse him. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/10 "2008-05-27T19:29:15Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Slit] I thought “The Exorcist,” too…but doesn’t it also come up in “The Wizard of Oz”? ETA: Hmm, no, googling gets me nothing–I think I misremembered. [/QUOTE] You’re thinking of [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfV_ENR5IZE). The clip From The Exorcist can be seen in the next link at 4min 20secs. It’s a highlight reel of the movie. It’s The Exorcist folks so its **NSFW** or for the easily shocked. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvhl4At6AX8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvhl4At6AX8) ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/11 "2008-05-27T19:33:09Z")
I’m loving that 9min highlight reel BTW. THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU! THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU! THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU! Ahhh good times 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/12 "2008-05-27T20:40:51Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] There are lots of places it might have come from. Gollum, of course, in **The Two Towers** says of the magic elven-rope that Frodo ties to his ankle “It burns us! It burns us!” In the often-overlooked British SF sequel **Quatermass II** (called **Enemy from Space** in the US), the MP goes to see what Horrible Secret the company they’re investigating is keeping in its pressure tanks (and which is supposed to be some sort of futuristic food). He comes down covered with smoking black stuff and, before dying, tells Quatermass “The food – it burns! It burns!” [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050873/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050873/) Both those examples are from the 1950s. I don’t know of earlier ones. [/QUOTE] I remember seeing that obscure british flick-I did remember seeing the guy (head covered with what looked like grease0 running down the steps of an oil storage tank, uttering “It burns!”. I don’t know what happened, only that the flick was boorrring! ---
**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 27, 2008, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/13 "2008-05-27T20:48:42Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t know what happened, only that the flick was boorrring! Give it another chance -=- Nigel Kneale’s original three Quatermass serials and the films made from them were high points in Science Fiction. (I wasn’t much impressed with The Quatermass Conclusion, and don’t think seeing the extended version would help that. And I haven’t experienced The Quatermass Memoirs.) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/14 "2008-05-27T20:53:54Z")
[QUOTE=minlokwat] Well it may seem that way now but to the 1973 movie-going public that wasn’t the case. There are numerous accounts that the film was a bit intense for its time with portions of the audience walking out having been spooked out of their wits or moved beyond their level of comfort from some of the on-screen blasphemy. Movie house managers at the time were also reminded to make sure their supply of kitty litter was fully replenished for audience members who would lose their cookies during the film’s initial run. [/QUOTE] Wouldn’t that be all the more reason for a show like The Simpsons to pick up the line and run with it? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/15 "2008-05-27T22:22:45Z")
As long as we’re on the topic of Simpsons quotes, did the phrase _“the googles, they do nothing”_ originate on the show or was it a parody of an existing line? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/16 "2008-05-27T22:25:19Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] As long as we’re on the topic of Simpsons quotes, did the phrase _“the googles, they do nothing”_ originate on the show or was it a parody of an existing line? [/QUOTE] I’m pretty sure the phrase “The Googles, they do nothing” is not an original Simpsons quote 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/17 "2008-05-27T22:34:28Z")
**I’d** guess it was one of the Hammer Dracula films. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/18 "2008-05-27T23:23:01Z")
And I thought you were looking for “The irony, it burns.” which we discussed last month. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9687023&highlight=irony+burns#post9687023](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9687023&highlight=irony+burns#post9687023) ---
**Author:** ![Quint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/76d3ee/32.png) [@Quint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/19 "2008-05-28T00:09:57Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Slit] I thought “The Exorcist,” too…but doesn’t it also come up in “The Wizard of Oz”? ETA: Hmm, no, googling gets me nothing–I think I misremembered. [/QUOTE] From **The Wizard of OZ** I think you’re thinking of “I’m melting… melting..” ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788/20 "2008-05-28T00:19:01Z")
It was The Exorcist, I’m damn near certain. Gollum, on the other hand… I seem to recall his line was “It Burns Us! It Freezes Us!” As in, he didnt know whether he had the shit or the heartburn. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-anguished-cry-it-burns-it-burns/450788.md?page=2)