# Throwaway Lines that became Catch Phrases **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 7, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087 "2012-04-07T15:11:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/41 "2012-04-08T02:18:05Z")
I’d buy _that_ for a dollar! ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/42 "2012-04-08T02:29:07Z")
That’s a huge bitch! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/43 "2012-04-08T02:51:10Z")
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Can’t we all just get along? ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/44 "2012-04-08T03:09:27Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. > > Can’t we all just get along? I think of the latter a meme, inspired by Rodney King. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/45 "2012-04-08T03:25:49Z")
You call that a knife? _This_ is a knife. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/46 "2012-04-08T05:40:52Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I’d buy _that_ for a dollar! But the original (“I’d buy that for a quarter” in _The Marching Morons_) was perhaps the very definition of an annoying catchphrase. I’d wager more than a dollar it was put into _Robocop_ as a deliberate reference, not a throwaway line. Unless you heard it somewhere else, but even then it was likely still a reference to the story. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/47 "2012-04-08T06:44:59Z")
You’re gonna need a bigger boat. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2012, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/48 "2012-04-08T13:05:19Z")
“What a dump!” ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/49 "2012-04-08T13:09:04Z")
“Do a barrel roll” “I love the power glove. It’s so bad.” ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/50 "2012-04-08T16:32:36Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Obviously, not every piece of dialog written in literature and entertainment is intended to be a catchphrase. > > Not every line can be “Go Ahead, Make My Day” or “Et Tu, Brute” or “No Soup for You” > > Are there any examples of throwaway lines that became iconic Catch phrases? > > I am drawing a blank. I don’t think we are all agreeing on what is a “throw away” line. Most of dialog is not written to be a catch phrase. If you try to write something as a catch phrase, you tend to repeat it a few times to establish it as one. Dialog is not divided into “catch phrases” and “throw away lines”. I’m not sure. Have “catch phrases”, little bits of dialog from a movie or play, been quoted by the general public, forever? The way we do now? I would guess since the age of television. Or maybe there were radio stars that had catch phrases. Yes, Jack Benny for example had them. Do we know people went around saying “Frankly my dear…” I don’t think Charlie Chaplin had catch phrases. Anyway, to me, (I write and direct stage plays) a throwaway line would be something that is delivered as an “undercut”. Meaning that is spoken at a distinctly lower volume than the rest of the dialog in the scene, almost as if the character is muttering under their breath. That is a throwaway, if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/51 "2012-04-08T16:39:15Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > “What a dump!” I say this to myself once or twice every day. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/52 "2012-04-08T17:18:29Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > I can’t find a cite for this, but I have read that "Where’s the beef?’ was not the intended catchphrase in that Wendy’s commercial. References to a “big, fluffy bun” were supposed to be the memorable lines, but the “Where’s the beef?” part is what passed into the vernacular. Is that what that’s from?! There are no Wendy’s over here, but I have heard the phrase used… “Big mistake. Huge” hear people saying that one all the time. (it’s from Pretty Woman, btw) “it’s not the years honey, it’s the mileage” There’s a BBC show called The Fast Show that is just a bunch of quick skits where a character comes on, says a catchphrase and leaves, like “you ain’t seen me, roight?” or “brilliant!” or “which was nice”, or “I’ll get me coat” the concept of the show was basically to put these throwaway lines in scenes and let rip. They created a monster. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/53 "2012-04-08T17:24:35Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > I don’t think we are all agreeing on what is a “throw away” line. Most of dialog is not written to be a catch phrase. If you try to write something as a catch phrase, you tend to repeat it a few times to establish it as one. Dialog is not divided into “catch phrases” and “throw away lines”. > > I’m not sure. Have “catch phrases”, little bits of dialog from a movie or play, been quoted by the general public, forever? The way we do now? I would guess since the age of television. Or maybe there were radio stars that had catch phrases. Yes, Jack Benny for example had them. Do we know people went around saying “Frankly my dear…” I don’t think Charlie Chaplin had catch phrases. > Anyway, to me, (I write and direct stage plays) a throwaway line would be something that is delivered as an “undercut”. Meaning that is spoken at a distinctly lower volume than the rest of the dialog in the scene, almost as if the character is muttering under their breath. That is a throwaway, if you ask me. I’m not sure we’re even agree on what a catch phrase is. When I think “catch phrase,” I’m thinking of a repeated line closely tied to a character, something out of SNL or a sitcom. Most of the lines in this topic are just memorable lines fro movies. When I first read the topic title, I thought of “How you doin?” from _Friends._ It was originally just Joey explaining how he flirts with women, and then it kept popping up during the rest of the show. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/54 "2012-04-08T20:50:18Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > Around here there’s this: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I33ktFVLLhs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I33ktFVLLhs) … and shit. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/55 "2012-04-09T00:37:13Z")
“Those aren’t pillows!” ---
**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:** [April 9, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/56 "2012-04-09T00:45:44Z")
Here’s looking at you, kid. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/57 "2012-04-09T00:49:30Z")
So I’ve got that going for me, which is nice. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/58 "2012-04-09T13:28:45Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I’m not sure we’re even agree on what a catch phrase is. . . Most of the lines in this topic are just memorable lines fro movies. Yeah, and many of them are lines that were snipped out and included in promo packages for the movies/TV programs–so even if you never saw the movie/TV program, you might be familiar with the line. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2012, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/59 "2012-04-09T13:32:07Z")
The “Oh, boy!” line from _Quantum Leap_ clearly was never meant to be Sam’s catch phrase. It’s not even present in many of the early episodes. I think it fits the bill. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087/60 "2012-04-09T15:41:45Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Anyway, to me, (I write and direct stage plays) a throwaway line would be something that is delivered as an “undercut”. Meaning that is spoken at a distinctly lower volume than the rest of the dialog in the scene, almost as if the character is muttering under their breath. That is a throwaway, if you ask me. [eyebrows]That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever hoid![/eyebrows] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-that-became-catch-phrases/618087.md?page=4)