# Princess Bride: Why so many quoted lines? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 20, 2012, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609 "2012-11-20T12:31:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/41 "2012-11-20T20:55:28Z")
> [@Just\_Ed](#): > > Well, the exception may be the _Princess Bride_ contingent, but I don’t think the effect is absent in society as a whole. Chances are if you asked a random person off the street, if they can’t quote from _Princess Bride_, they could probably quote from some other movie favorite of theirs (unless they were not a movie fan at all). > > But yeah, if you’re asking if the SDMB is atypical in its enthusiasm for _The Princess Bride_, I would think yes, it probably is. I love the movie (and quote it to friends and family who share my opinion), but I’m not entirely sure it’s as popular amongst the unwashed masses as it is here. No, it’s not atypical. My friends three kids would watch this over and over and over. They could quote the entire movie, given the cues. None of them were much into reading or fantasy, more video games, sports and boys. But still this one film got watched more than all the others, maybe even combined. Casablanca? Sure, but only to the extent of a few lines. And that’s mainly as those lines are endlessly quoted in other sources such as even cartoons. I have an example. One of the kids was calling someone a “george”. I asked why that? She said “I hug him and squeeze him and call him george” , which is a Bug Bunny take off from “Of Mice and Men”. They had no idea that George was the smart one. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/42 "2012-11-20T21:05:00Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Well? We’re waiting! “It’s in the hole!” ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/43 "2012-11-20T21:09:26Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > There are two reasons why the Princess Bide is quoted so much > > [ol] > [li]Exclusivity. Private jokes exclude those outside the collective.[/li][li]Inherent Quotability. Dialog in sentence fragments. [/li][/ol] Don’t know about the Princess Bide (was that Star Wars?), but that may be a good point about the _Princess Bride_. It reminds me of a theater group I was part of in the 1960’s. Everyone could recite the entire monologue from [the opening of _Music Man_](http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/themusicman/rockisland.htm) verbatim, in rhythm, followed by [“Ya Got Trouble!”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI_Oe-jtgdI). Sometimes parties degenerated into the entire group doing parts like that spontaneously, en masse. Probably wouldn’t happen today. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/44 "2012-11-20T21:33:39Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > … > > I would like to add Caddy Shack to the list. Most men my age (58) can quote lots of lines from that one. So I got that going for me. Which is nice. ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/45 "2012-11-20T21:36:04Z")
I was at TAM 9. At the end of one of the talks, someone with a Spanish (as in Spain) accent asked a question. The MC, who was holding the mic for the questioner, told the questioner “please say the phrase ‘prepare to die’”. Despite being befuddled, he did, which was answered by uproarious laughter from the crowd. So I guess Dopers aren’t the only ones who know the Princess Bride. Of course, you can make a good case for the equivalency of Dopers and TAM’ers… J. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/46 "2012-11-20T21:44:27Z")
It seems that certain lines take on a quality rather like a song lyric. It’s not just the words; there’s some quality in the way they are spoken that single time that makes them memorable. I can hear them again in my memory as I would a snippet from a favorite song. I have no idea what it is that makes certain bits of dialog take on that quality, but something about it makes them memorable. > [@Just\_Ed](#): > > That’s a good point. I wonder how many people quote lines from _The Simpsons_ (for example) without being aware of their origin. “Cromulent” hasn’t (yet) made it to the OED, but [Wiktionary](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cromulent) will define it for you.Now that just makes me sad. There’s also the Thagomizer on the end of a stegosaurus’s tail, and the collective noun for a “flange” of baboons. (And who knows how else that connects to this thread?) ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/47 "2012-11-20T21:52:52Z")
What’s TAM? A recurring thing I run into is people incorrectly quoting lines from movies they claim to love. We’re not talking long. complex lines either. So far no one’s said “_Inevitable!_” in place of “_Inconceivable!_,” but it’s only a matter of time. It irks me when people quote something _because_ it’s memorable _and_ they’ve watched it multiple time and they STILL get it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/48 "2012-11-20T22:09:35Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > What’s TAM? [The Amazing Meeting](http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/amazing-meeting.html) ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/49 "2012-11-20T22:14:07Z")
TAM would probably be The Amazing Meeting, an annual event sponsored by the James Randi Educational Foundation focussing on science, skepticism and critical thinking. Randi is known professionally as “The Amazing Randi .” As \*\*Musicat \*\* said. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/50 "2012-11-20T22:23:23Z")
Why didn’t you just buy another buritto, Todd??? Unexpected turns of phrase bring back the whole scene, you only need the punchline to laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/51 "2012-11-20T22:23:40Z")
My daughter Kizarvexilla (who is about to turn 14) and I have quotathon sparring matches. The art of the game is to avoid using the same sources in a single match. Movies, musicals, songs, and comedy routines are all admissible. Example. Her: (singing) Aaaagonyyyy… _(Into the Woods)_ Me: (singing) All alone in the moooonlight… _(Cats)_ Her: Quiet! _(1776)_ Me: …Bet you’re gay. _(MP and the Holy Grail)_ Her: Statement! _(Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead)_ Me: You keep using that hword. I do na think it means what you think it means. _(The Princess Bride)_ Her: (singing) I can spell all the words that I use, and my grammar’s as good as my neighbor’s. _(Iolanthe)_ Me: Why, without your good grammar, the whole darn shootin’ match could go arse over tea kettle. _(A Series of Unfortunate Events)_ Her: I will tell you, Mr. Wang – if you can tell me why a man who possesses one of the most brilliant minds of this century can’t say his prepositions or articles! _(Murder By Death)_ Me: Avada Kedavra! (_Harry Potter_) Her: In English? (_The Usual Suspects_) And so forth… ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/52 "2012-11-20T23:35:33Z")
> [@Just\_Ed](#): > > Yes, you’re very smart. Shut up. > > I think you’ll find a sizable subset of any appropriately large fandom that can (and will) quote entire movies to each other endlessly. _Casablanca_ may be a good candidate, but something tells me comedies are more suited to this kind of thing. The Monty Python movies come to mind, as well as those of Mel Brooks (_Blazing Saddles_ and _Young Frankenstein_ in particular). Mayhap the SDMB just has an over-representation of these fans. There’s a scene in the book Ready Player One where the protagonist has to get thru a round by playing various roles in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and I thought “Damn, I know a lot of people that would ace that.” The book is is set in the 2040s though… ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/53 "2012-11-20T23:47:58Z")
These quotes fit many everyday situations so yeah, they’re going to come up. If someone is heading out: “Have fun storming the castle!” Or if you bark your shin or get a paper cut: “Just a flesh wound! Not dead yet!” Or “He’s a close talker.” And Casablanca must have quite a few quotables because when I finally saw it as a young adult, my reaction was “What a cliche! I’ve heard all these lines before.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/54 "2012-11-21T00:09:22Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > It’s a way of separating the Dopers from the screaming eels. I guess I’m a screaming eel, because I’ve never seen it. Nor have I any great desire to. By the time I finally saw _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_, I’d had people quoting it at me for 18 years. It didn’t particularly excite me at that point, either. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/55 "2012-11-21T00:22:32Z")
Don’t you remember Paris? The Germans wore gray, you wore blue. Of all the gin joints in all the world, why did she have to walk into mine? Carrying charges. I’m shocked. Shocked to find gambling going on here! Your winnings sir. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/56 "2012-11-21T00:24:21Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > I guess I’m a screaming eel, because I’ve never seen it. Nor have I any great desire to. That’s OK. The eel doesn’t get you. I’m explaining to you because you look nervous. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/57 "2012-11-21T00:41:16Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Don’t you remember Paris? > The Germans wore gray, you wore blue. > > Of all the gin joints in all the world, why did she have to walk into mine? > > Carrying charges. > > I’m shocked. Shocked to find gambling going on here! > Your winnings sir. “Play it Sam. Play _‘As Time Goes By’_” ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/58 "2012-11-21T00:44:10Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I’m shocked. Shocked to find gambling going on here! I wonder how many people use the “shocked, _shocked_” part of that line in everyday speech without knowing where it’s from. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Just another example of cultural osmosis.) ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/59 "2012-11-21T01:57:02Z")
Movie quotes also serve as markers of common tastes, as well. If I say “Inconceivable!” and you respond " I do not theenk that word means what you theenk it means", that’s a good sign that your sense of humor is similar to mine; or at least closer than someone who responds “Hunh?” For my own part, I probably don’t go a week without quoting _Strange Brew_: “Luke, I am your father! Come to the dark side, you knob!” or “No way, eh? Radiation, has made me, an enemy, of civilization!” “This isn’t heaven! This sucks!” ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609/60 "2012-11-21T02:18:11Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Well? We’re waiting! Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. Just be the ball, be the ball, be the ball. Noonan!!! Whoa, did somebody step on a duck? Hey baby, you must’ve been something before electricity. What, when you buy a hat like this I bet you get a free bowl of soup, huh? Oh, it looks good on you though. Wanna make 14 dollars the hard way? Hey everybody, we’re all gonna get laid! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-why-so-many-quoted-lines/641609.md?page=4)