# Speaking of comedy catchphrases... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 1, 2019, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813 "2019-11-01T00:56:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813/1 "2019-11-01T00:56:33Z")
“I thought I told you to WAIT IN THE CAR.” Spoken by the top banana, in exasperation, to a dopey sidekick. Think of the George Burns/Gracie Allen relationship (although George would never be so rude). All my attempts at Googling have taken me to a cute Tallulah Bankhead anecdote, or a song lyric by an unknown band. In my mind’s eye and ear, I see and hear Milton Berle saying this. Can anyone help me find the source? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813/2 "2019-11-01T01:02:57Z")
In my mind’s nose, I can even smell Uncle Miltie’s cigar. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813/3 "2019-11-01T01:47:36Z")
I didn’t know it was an old joke, but when I read the quote I instantly heard Larry The Cable Guy yelling it at a heckler. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/PZ6Kw5Ip-IU/hqdefault.jpg "Blue Collar Comedy Tour Larry the Cable Guy") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ6Kw5Ip-IU) ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813/4 "2019-11-01T02:38:51Z")
Not it, although he may have been referencing a much earlier reference. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813/5 "2019-11-01T03:00:35Z")
Total guess: _Car 54, Where Are You?_ ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813/6 "2019-11-01T03:11:52Z")
Great show, but no Milton Berle. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813/7 "2019-11-01T14:37:39Z")
Just guessing - [It’s a Mad Mad Mad World](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057193/) contains both Milton and lots of cars to wait in. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813/8 "2019-11-01T14:44:15Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Just guessing - [It’s a Mad Mad Mad World](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057193/) contains both Milton and lots of cars to wait in. That may be it. Did he end up in the car with Ethel Merman? Maybe it was Sid Caeser, she played his mother-in-law right? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813/9 "2019-11-01T15:12:08Z")
Paul Simon said it to Art Garfunkel when Garfunkel accepted Olivia Newton John’s Grammy for Record of the Year in 1975. It was a perfect use of an obviously old quip. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813/10 "2019-11-01T15:37:55Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > That may be it. Did he end up in the car with Ethel Merman? Maybe it was Sid Caeser, she played his mother-in-law right? Milton Berle’s mother-in-law. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813/11 "2019-11-01T16:46:56Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Maybe it was Sid Caeser, she played his mother-in-law right? No, Sid Ceasar was playing the role of Ernie Kovacs. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813/12 "2019-11-01T16:50:21Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > No, Sid Ceasar was playing the role of Ernie Kovacs. Cripes! I forgot all about that, it was Edie Adams playing his wife shortly after Kovacs death. Gotta watch the movie again sometime, it’s been decades. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813/13 "2019-11-01T16:51:00Z")
…meaning, he was playing the husband of **Edie Adams.**. An enviable position. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813/14 "2019-11-01T17:11:52Z")
If Milton didn’t say it to Ethel Merman or Dorothy Provine, he must have said it to Terry-Thomas. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813/15 "2019-11-01T18:38:41Z")
I just checked the script to the movie at [Scripts.com](http://Scripts.com). The line isn’t there. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813/16 "2019-11-01T18:40:55Z")
This site [You ain't heard nuthin' yet: Great Quotes about Movies & TV | Steve Hoffman Music Forums](https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/you-aint-heard-nuthin-yet-great-quotes-about-movies-tv.772267/) attributes it to Tallulah Bankhead, on seeing an old lover for the first time in years. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813/17 "2019-11-01T23:54:26Z")
No, no, wasn’t in **Mad Mad Mad Mad World.**. And yeah, I know the Tallulah thing, see OP. I’m almost certain it was Berle. Maybe on the teevee? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-comedy-catchphrases/842813/18 "2019-11-02T02:12:12Z")
Off topic, but as long as Tallulah Bankhead is in the discussion, my favorite line was from a story she told about gambling in Vegas. When she rolled snake eyes, the croupier told her she had “crapped out.” And in that cigarette fueled drag queen voice, she replied, “I did whaaaaat?”