# Origin of the phrase, "I've got all day and a pack of cigarettes"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-ive-got-all-day-and-a-pack-of-cigarettes/577629>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 8, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-ive-got-all-day-and-a-pack-of-cigarettes/577629 "2011-04-08T04:27:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

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**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:** [April 8, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-ive-got-all-day-and-a-pack-of-cigarettes/577629/1 "2011-04-08T04:27:23Z")

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I first heard it in high school, in a story told by a friend about a man and woman who find themselves alone together somewhere remote. The woman says the phrase, which, in context, implies that they might as well have sex, as there’s nothing else to do.

Has anybody else heard the phrase before? Is it originally from some book, movie, play, etc.?

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**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-ive-got-all-day-and-a-pack-of-cigarettes/577629/2 "2011-04-08T12:57:06Z")

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Sounds vaguely familiar. When were you in HS?

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**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-ive-got-all-day-and-a-pack-of-cigarettes/577629/3 "2011-04-08T16:02:05Z")

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Sounds vaguely like this quote from **The Blues Brothers** :

\*Elwood: It’s 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark… and we’re wearing sunglasses.  
Jake: Hit it. \*

Otherwise, I got nothing.

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**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-ive-got-all-day-and-a-pack-of-cigarettes/577629/4 "2011-04-08T16:22:39Z")

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Sounds like something from a cop movie.

Perp in Interrogation Room: “I ain’t talkin’. You got nothing on me.”  
Bad Cop: “I got all day and a pack of cigarettes.”  
Or, I was thinking it sounded along the lines of something Hard Harry would say in “[Pump Up The Volume](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100436/)”. Probably misremembering that though. It’s been a while, and nothing close came up in the quotes section.

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**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:** [April 8, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-ive-got-all-day-and-a-pack-of-cigarettes/577629/5 "2011-04-08T16:52:16Z")

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If you put quotes around “all day and a pack of cigarettes” nothing shows up but this thread.

You’re misremembering something in the quote.

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**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:** [April 9, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-ive-got-all-day-and-a-pack-of-cigarettes/577629/6 "2011-04-09T02:04:07Z")

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I went to a prep school near Pittsburgh in 1979-83, and I’m 97% sure of the quotation.

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**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:** [April 9, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-ive-got-all-day-and-a-pack-of-cigarettes/577629/7 "2011-04-09T02:31:09Z")

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> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> I went to a prep school near Pittsburgh in 1979-83, and I’m 97% sure of the quotation.

OK, then let me amend that to read that your source may have misremembered. Or simply invented.

I’ve got a “looking for” thread myself that’s not turning anything up so I understand the frustration.

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**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-ive-got-all-day-and-a-pack-of-cigarettes/577629/8 "2011-04-09T02:39:42Z")

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Never heard of it.

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**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-ive-got-all-day-and-a-pack-of-cigarettes/577629/9 "2011-04-11T16:03:24Z")

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It sounds like something Philip Marlowe would have said.