# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satisfying_Andy_Licious)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/21 "2003-04-12T06:16:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KneadToKnow \* > \*\*Can’t we all just get along? > > 😃 \*\* Oh, easy one. Rodney King during the L.A. riot. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/22 "2003-04-12T08:19:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*[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] \*\* I think by the time Mrs. Lovejoy said it, it was a parody of a line used seriously in earlier movies. Something like _The Birds_ (1963). “X? What is this X of which you speak?” sounds like one of the King’s lines from _The King and I_. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/23 "2003-04-12T08:26:30Z")
From Plato’s _Republic_, Book VI: > [@](#): > > Though vision may be in the eyes and its possessor may try to use it, and though color be present, yet without the presence of a third thing specifically and naturally adapted to this purpose, you are aware that vision will see nothing and the colors will remain invisible. > > What is this thing of which you speak? he said. > > The thing, I said, that you call light. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/24 "2003-04-12T10:20:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*From Plato’s _Republic_, Book VI: \*\* Wow! that must be one of the worlds oldest catchphrases! I’ve got some as well: - … makes the baby Jesus cry. - Oh! The humanity! Or are these SDMB-culture instead of _popular_ culture? (not that there is anything wrong with that 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![Linus\_Van\_Pelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Linus\_Van\_Pelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linus_Van_Pelt)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/25 "2003-04-12T10:37:02Z")
**TTT** , I believe that “Oh the humanity!” comes from the radio annoucer’s hysterical (not in a funny way) description of the Hindenburg as it went down in flames. It’s usually repeated sarcasticly in response to someone making a tragedy out of something reletively minor. ---
**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, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/26 "2003-04-12T11:46:22Z")
Crying Baby Jesus is yet another from the Simpsons. “Lies make baby Jesus cry,” from one of the Flanderses. As for “think of the children,” it may well be a spoof of The Birds, but I would guess that just about everybody using it is referring to the Simpsons, so in my view that makes it “from” The Simpsons even if it wasn’t the first ever use of the phrase in history. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/27 "2003-04-12T14:10:36Z")
Boo-yah? ---
**Author:** ![Payton\_s\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@Payton\_s\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payton_s_Servant)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/28 "2003-04-12T14:19:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by HeyHomie \* > \*\*Boo-yah? \*\* Popularized by SportsCenter anchor Stuart Scott. ---
**Author:** ![tonbo0422](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@tonbo0422](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonbo0422)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/29 "2003-04-12T15:01:06Z")
What I’ve seen cropping up, and which I hate, is “I’ve made a bad.” I might not have the exact phrase correct, but whatever it is, it’s pathetic and childish, and sounds like it came from some bottom-feeding show like “Friends.” There are some “catchphrases” that should have their feet whipped. ---
**Author:** ![tonbo0422](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@tonbo0422](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonbo0422)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/30 "2003-04-12T15:05:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Atreyu \* > \*\*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. \*\* Heh . . . you SDMB people are too young. I forget the actor’s name, but he was from “Marcus Welby, M.D.” (welby=well-be–get it?) and he was the avuncular proponent of some long-forgotten drug. That brings to mind the old “Four out of five doctors recommend . . .” ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/31 "2003-04-12T15:26:10Z")
tonbo0422, Sorry, but it was not an actor who played a doctor on _Marcus Welby_. It was one of the actors who played a doctor on _General Hospital_. I remember the ad quite clearly. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/32 "2003-04-12T15:40:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tonbo0422 \* > \*\*Heh . . . you SDMB people are too young. \*\* [hijack] Jokes that only older people “get:” “What’s green and carries a black bag?” “Mucus Welby.” [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![bradwalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@bradwalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bradwalt)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/33 "2003-04-12T15:43:02Z")
So far, this thread has been nothing but wild guesses, (which can be fun), but I’d love to see some cites! And Wendell, if you remember the ad quite clearly, any guesses on the product being advertised? I’ll write to them to verify that they did indeed coin the catchphrase. I know that IMDB has a pretty good database of famous movie lines, but there must already be a page that collects and researches “catchphrases?” OK: here’s my “wild guess”: X? What is this X of which you speak? sounds to me like the cliche from 50s sci-fi movies where the alien from Mars says “Love? What is this ‘Love’ of which you speak?” And probably it helped if spoken by a beautiful, voluptuous Martian to the clean-cut American astronaut. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/34 "2003-04-12T15:56:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*“I’m not a X, I just play one on TV.” > > That one’s been around a lot. Anybody know where it came from? \*\* Aren’t old memories fun? It was Robert Young who played Marcus Welby (might as well be Marcus Welby, as we used to say) shilling for Bufferin, or maybe Excedrin. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/35 "2003-04-12T16:01:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*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). \*\* Originally a Chick Hearn-ism. There are a number of people who doubt the number of common basketball terms he coined but this was certainly one of them. And hey, great pull **Nametag** on the Colonel Flagg reference! 'Four out of five dentists", of course, is in the Straight Dope Archives. ---
**Author:** ![tonbo0422](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@tonbo0422](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonbo0422)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/36 "2003-04-12T16:25:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MonkeyMensch \* > \*\*Aren’t old memories fun? > > It was Robert Young who played Marcus Welby (might as well be Marcus Welby, as we used to say) shilling for Bufferin, or maybe Excedrin. \*\* I knowed it was Robert Young. Sorry, Wendell ol’ buddy, but my Alzheimers seems to be more reliable than your Alzheimers. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/37 "2003-04-12T16:31:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MonkeyMensch \* > **Originally a Chick Hearn-ism. There are a number of people who doubt the number of common basketball terms he coined but this was certainly one of them.** You beat me to it! The late Chick Hearn was the long-time radio and TV voice of the Los Angeles Lakers. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MonkeyMensch \* > \*\*'Four out of five dentists", of course, is in the Straight Dope Archives. \*\* Interstingly, this has been revived in recent Dentyne commercials. The new spots spoof the catch phrase, though. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/38 "2003-04-12T16:37:37Z")
“I loves me some X”, I’d bet a dollar to a doughnut, is just an imitation of what’s commonly perceived as African-American speech. It’s likely that it was popularized on a show with a prominent African-American cast – _In Living Color_ is a probable suspect. **Jomo Mojo** , got any more of these? This is an interesting topic. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/39 "2003-04-12T17:10:21Z")
No, it was not Robert Young. I’ve just done a whole bunch of Googling, and I’ve finally come up with the actor who did the commercial where he said “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV.” It was Peter Bergman, who played a doctor on the TV series “All My Children”. The ad was for some cough syrup and it was done in 1986. Here’s a webpage that refers to it: [http://www.holecity.com/tooth/adhole\_f.html](http://www.holecity.com/tooth/adhole_f.html) Here’s another webpage: [http://www.soapcentral.com/y&r/theactors/bergman.php](http://www.soapcentral.com/y&r/theactors/bergman.php) Aso look at Peter Bergman’s biography page in the IMDb: [http://us.imdb.com/Bio?Bergman,%20Peter%20(II)](http://us.imdb.com/Bio?Bergman,%20Peter%20(II)) It’s possible that Robert Young did some advertisement in which he said something similar, but that was later that the advertisement that Peter Bergman did. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873/40 "2003-04-12T17:30:00Z")
Wow, **Wendell**! Nice site cites. I was all ready to pop off about how memory plays trick on you. I now can pop off how memory plays tricks on me.🙂 So what the heck product did Robert Young push on some commercial? I know he did some ads. Geritol? Depends? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-current-catchphrases/68873.md?page=3)