# Pop culture flotsam: things that long outlive the work they came from **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 5, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161 "2007-09-05T20:47:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/81 "2007-09-10T02:07:49Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] Where does Kimo Sabay come from? I’ve heard that a few times. [/QUOTE] Ha! [Kemo Sabe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonto). That is funny, to think of it used in other countries not knowing the reference. Which I understand is the point of the thread and all. what? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/82 "2007-09-10T02:54:35Z")
[QUOTE=ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies] Ha! [Kemo Sabe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonto). That is funny, to think of it used in other countries not knowing the reference. Which I understand is the point of the thread and all. what? [/QUOTE] 🙂 All sorts of cowboy movie references have been popular here and still are to a certain extent. Those movies were so popular here (maybe everywhere) in the '50s etc that I’ve often thought about researching it for a book. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/83 "2007-09-10T03:05:49Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] Where does “tipping point” come from? It seems to be a recent usage like “perfect storm” but i’m sure i’m wrong. All Your Base Are Belong To Us = some obscure Japanese videogame? [/QUOTE] _The Tipping Point_ was a book by Malcolm Gladwell. “All your base are belong to us” was a quotation from the European version of a Japanese video game called _Zero Wing_. ---
**Author:** ![H3Knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/84 "2007-09-10T04:35:27Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] All Your Base Are Belong To Us = some obscure Japanese videogame? [/QUOTE] AYBABTU comes from an obscure space shoot-'em up named “Zero Wing” for (a Sega system, I believe either Genesis or Sega CD) that was translated for its European release by a Japanese team, and not a native localization team. It is perhaps one of the best examples of horrible “engrish” in early console history. It’s mostly known today for the videos people made and released over the web of the game’s cutscenes, the dance mix using audio samples from the game, and the music videos of the dance mix with various photoshopped images where people edited phrases from the game’s dialogue into the background. It never would’ve had any real hold in people’s memories if it weren’t for the grass-roots multimedia blitz that hit right around the time internet connections capable of conveniently pulling down video files were becoming widespread. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/85 "2007-09-10T10:59:45Z")
Nobody remembers this now, but the phrase “I don’t mind if I do” came from a WWII British radio show called ITMA {It’s That Man Again}: it was the catchphrase of the drunken Colonel Chinstrap, who managed to mishear every innocuous question as an invitation to have a drink. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/86 "2007-09-10T12:13:54Z")
The “clock chime” from _[For a Few Dollars More](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2l4IKz3m7c)_ is now a popular ring tone, as well as a sample in a [popular speed garage track](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPMWXW5h-KI) (the remix of which was also used as the incidental music to Ali G’s TV show). ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/87 "2007-09-10T15:15:42Z")
[QUOTE=ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies] Ha! [Kemo Sabe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonto). That is funny, to think of it used in other countries not knowing the reference. Which I understand is the point of the thread and all. [/QUOTE] Can’t mention that with out referring to the [column](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_061.html). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/88 "2007-09-10T16:36:46Z")
[QUOTE=kidchameleon] It’s not hard to outlive Mister Mister. [/QUOTE] Oddly enough, “Mister Mister” comes from the play **The Cradle Will Rock** , from 1936, so it did outlive the work. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/89 "2007-09-10T16:56:46Z")
Perhaps the ultimate example, depending on how you want to contort the sense of “original work”: OK. Some Boston newspapers start a trend for wacky misspellings and inside jokes, and one presidential campaign and 170 years later “OK” is one of the most universal expressions on earth. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/90 "2007-09-10T18:17:47Z")
Not exactly modern pop culture, but many Chinese idiomatic phrases often encapsulate an event that otherwise would have been lost in history. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/91 "2007-09-10T19:08:31Z")
When was the last time somebody put on a production of **R.U.R (Rossum’s Universal Robots)**? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/92 "2007-09-10T19:23:46Z")
[QUOTE=sciurophobic] When was the last time somebody put on a production of **R.U.R (Rossum’s Universal Robots)**? [/QUOTE] [April, 2006](http://www.adhesivetheater.com/stage/stage.html#rur) ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/93 "2007-09-10T19:25:23Z")
“I’m falling and I can’t get up!” - From an ad for some Medic-Alert service, circa 1988-89. “The call is coming from inside the house!” - From the movie “When a Stranger Calls” from the mid-70s. Few people know that the scene that line came from was in the first ten minutes of the film, and that the film as a whole is not a ‘babysitters vs. slasher’ flick, but a police procedural film. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/94 "2007-09-10T20:08:03Z")
BTW, don’t have time to search every post in this thread, but have [Rube Goldberg Devices](http://toonopedia.com/devices.htm) been mentioned yet? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/95 "2007-09-10T20:17:00Z")
[QUOTE=Interrobang!?] Perhaps the ultimate example, depending on how you want to contort the sense of “original work”: OK. Some Boston newspapers start a trend for wacky misspellings and inside jokes, and one presidential campaign and 170 years later “OK” is one of the most universal expressions on earth. [/QUOTE] [Sayeth Cecil…](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_250.html) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/96 "2007-09-10T21:16:58Z")
“Hey, I’m walkin’ here.” (Said in a Brooklyn accent of course.) Comes from the only X-rated (at the time) film to win Best Picture. Given the “adult” stigma the film still has, it doesn’t air that much on the movie channels. The quote pops up from time to time. In a clue for a crossword puzzle I did a couple of weeks ago. Jason Jones did a “Daily Show” segment on some jerk that wanted to use a motorized scooter everywhere but wasn’t handicapped. At the end, Jones is riding a scooter and almost runs into someone: “Hey, I’m not walkin’ here.” ---
**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:** [September 10, 2007, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/97 "2007-09-10T21:18:12Z")
[QUOTE=ftg] “Hey, I’m walkin’ here.” (Said in a Brooklyn accent of course.) Comes from the only X-rated (at the time) film to win Best Picture. Given the “adult” stigma the film still has, it doesn’t air that much on the movie channels. The quote pops up from time to time. In a clue for a crossword puzzle I did a couple of weeks ago. Jason Jones did a “Daily Show” segment on some jerk that wanted to use a motorized scooter everywhere but wasn’t handicapped. At the end, Jones is riding a scooter and almost runs into someone: “Hey, I’m not walkin’ here.” [/QUOTE] Ummm..what was the name of the flick? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/98 "2007-09-10T21:20:03Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Ummm..what was the name of the flick? [/QUOTE] Midnight Cowboy. The line was said by Dustin Hoffman. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/99 "2007-09-10T21:20:12Z")
Ratso said “Hey I’m walking here” in Midnight Cowboy…or was that a whoosh? edit - oops, sorry I’m a little late on the draw, I see ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161/100 "2007-09-10T22:06:58Z")
According to an episode of Quite Interesting, the very common Nokia ringtone was a piece by a [Spanish classical guitarist](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_T%C3%A1rrega) The words ‘Pimp’ and ‘Mac’ for a panderer come from an earlier term ‘McGimp,’ from a time when the stereotypical pimp was considered to be Irish. Mind you, some argue that ‘Mac’ actually comes from Shakespear’s use of ‘mackrel’ to refer to prostitutes, which is in line with a similar usage in the French. A few years ago I started noticing people use the word ‘berk’ in shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and games like Planescape: Torment. ‘Berk’ is rhyming slang: Berkley Hunt = Cunt. The line in the Maltese Falcon about Joel Cairo being a ‘gunsel’ made it into the movie, and many people still think it means ‘gunman.’ Like ‘catamite’ or ‘pillow biter’ it refers to a passive pederast. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-flotsam-things-that-long-outlive-the-work-they-came-from/418161.md?page=6)