# Origins of current catchphrases **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 15, 2001, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873 "2001-06-15T01:18:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2001, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/1 "2001-06-15T01:18:23Z")
The SDMB has got to be the best place to answer this kind of question. It sure worked when I asked about [“this one time, at band camp…”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=36581), and the infamous phrase [“who’s your daddy”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=73485) has spurred a lot of discussion. So here’s my idea for this thread: Catchphrases like these are always circulating through the popular Zeitgeist, and one can’t always keep track of all of them. Often there is an unstated subtext that you have to be aware of the origin of the phrase to understand. If you keep hearing something that makes you wonder, post it here and get answers from the Teeming Millions. I’ll lead off: Every so often on MPSIMS, someone is talking to X, and then suddenly breaks into: **"…and how YOU doing, X?"** Huh? Wuzzup with that? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2001, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/2 "2001-06-15T02:57:28Z")
While I take your post as a serious question, it strikes me as more of a MPSIMS question. Many of these phrases are nothing more than quotes from movies, which may have been language from comedy routines from current comics. And, yes, I realize that is how many things get into the language. But how currently important are phrases that my kids use, that they heard on the radio in the last few months? ---
**Author:** ![StephenG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@StephenG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StephenG)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2001, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/3 "2001-06-15T03:03:17Z")
You know, _Friends_? Joey has made the line “How YOU doin’?” infamous as a comeon /generic flirting line. So, if someone says this, they’re trying to flirt. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2001, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/4 "2001-06-15T14:44:52Z")
Thanks, **StephenG**. I’d guessed it was something like that, but no, I don’t know _Friends_ 'cause I don’t watch TV. I have no idea of what characters do what shtick on what shows. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2001, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/5 "2001-06-16T02:19:38Z")
Here’s another one: for the last several years, it seems like everyone’s been saying it _ad nauseam_: “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” Where’s that come from? Some spy movie, I imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2001, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/6 "2001-06-16T10:21:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*Here’s another one: for the last several years, it seems like everyone’s been saying it _ad nauseam_: > “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” > > Where’s that come from? Some spy movie, I imagine. \*\* Well, Jomo, I could tell you, but — OW! Okay, who just threw a hubcap at my head? ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c67d28/32.png) [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_AL_Einstein)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2001, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/7 "2001-06-16T18:17:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*Thanks, **StephenG**. I’d guessed it was something like that, but no, I don’t know _Friends_ 'cause I don’t watch TV. I have no idea of what characters do what shtick on what shows. \*\* Ummmm…not to be glib or anything, but if you are interested in the origins of catchphrases but you don’t watch tv, you are at a severe disadvantage. Catchphrases are a part of popular culture, and so is tv, like it or not. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2001, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/8 "2001-06-16T18:21:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” According to [IMDb](http://us.imdb.com/Quotes?0092099), it’s used in _Top Gun_, but something tells me it was around before that. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/9 "2001-06-17T00:22:31Z")
I’m _not_ interested in TV shows, OK? Big waste of time. But I am interested in the interplay of dialogue among intelligent minds that takes place here at the SDMB. Some people circulate catchphrases they’ve heard without even necessarily having heard them from the source. If I’m to grasp the unstated implications of a catchphrase, sometimes I gotta ask. Nobody can be expected to see _all_ the TV shows, movies, etc., if they have a life. Are you implying that unless I watch TV, I shouldn’t participate in the SDMB? ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/10 "2001-06-17T04:25:11Z")
**Jomo** , **Weird Al** is right, and I don’t think he was implying anything. You live in America and want to be up on catchphrases, you gotta watch TV and go to trashy comedy films or ask somebody who does. That’s where the subtext comes from. I could explain what the phrase “not that there’s anything _wrong_ with that” means, but a much better understanding can be gained by just watching the episode of Seinfeld that made it a popular catchphrase. The subtext of the phrase is the plot of the episode. Quoting the Simpsons is more interesting to me, because instead of working lines from the show into the context of a conversation like a normal catchphrase, people just tend to quote whole bits of dialog from the show like they’re telling a knock-knock joke. Not that there’s anything _wrong_ with that. -fh ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/11 "2001-06-17T04:40:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hazel-rah \* > \*\*or ask somebody who does. \*\* Exactly. I chose this second option. Long live the SDMB! ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c67d28/32.png) [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_AL_Einstein)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/12 "2001-06-17T07:58:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*I’m _not_ interested in TV shows, OK? > > \ > > Are you implying that unless I watch TV, I shouldn’t participate in the SDMB? \*\* Whoa there! Hold on a second…I didn’t say or imply any such thing. All I said was, if you don’t watch tv you are going to be at a disadvantage at attaining your stated goal of learning the origin of various catchphrases. That’s it. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/13 "2001-06-17T11:51:34Z")
Dopers, dopers … please. Everybody take a minute and catch your breath. **Jomo Mojo** , **Weird\_AL\_Einstein** shake hands. It was just a little misunderstanding, okay? Let’s not let it get out of hand. Can’t we all just get along? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/14 "2001-06-17T15:28:47Z")
All right, no harm, no foul (hey, is that another one? Where’d that come from? I just keep hearing it. This one’s from the sports world, no doubt). ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/15 "2001-06-24T18:02:59Z")
“I’m not a X, I just play one on TV.” That one’s been around a lot. Anybody know where it came from? ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2001, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/16 "2001-06-24T18:12:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*Anybody know where it came from? \*\* Years and years ago, there was a rather famous TV commercial that had an actor saying, “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV.” Sort of a weird variety of the commercial using a doctor to promote the latest pharmaceutical product. I’ve never actually seen the commercial (or if I had, I was so young when it aired that I don’t remember it), so I don’t know what specific product it was advertising. Probably some type of over-the-counter medication. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/17 "2003-04-12T04:21:02Z")
Time has gone by since this thread started, and new catchphrases are circulating around here. New to me, at least. Here goes. Can anybody identify where these came from?[ul] [li]“Won’t somebody please think of the children?”[/li][li]“X? What is this X of which you speak?”[/li][li]“I loves me some X”[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vampire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Space\_Vampire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vampire)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/18 "2003-04-12T04:29:55Z")
Number one would be Reverend Lovejoy’s wife on The Simpsons freaking out about bears. 2 sound like Simpsons too but I doubt it. I don’t know that the third is “from” anything in particular, but I suppose every phrase starts somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/19 "2003-04-12T06:11:53Z")
The Simpsons??? I no longer have the cite in front of me, but I can’t believe that after all the hoopla following his death, everyone has forgotten that MR. ROGERS said this, **in all seriousness** , in an interview, and I’m pretty sure it’s the first. “The Simpsons” is less often a source for catch phrases than a reservoir. “No harm, no foul” is an old schoolyard basketball phrase “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you” – I remember this from some Nixon-era movie or television, but I can’t recall exactly what. Colonel Flagg from MASH, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/20 "2003-04-12T06:16:12Z")
Uhhh, never mind the Mr. Rogers thing. That was actually quite recent (I was thinking of something else). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873.md?page=2)