# What is the most commonly used phrase in English that came from a movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [December 2, 2024, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068 "2024-12-02T16:37:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/21 "2024-12-02T18:42:52Z")
I’m sure the term Groundhog Day was used in that movie, but probably not in the context that it has become since that movie came out, meaning doing the same thing over and over. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/22 "2024-12-02T19:07:47Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Sure we can open this up to TV lines, but that phrase appears in print before it did on TV. We wouldn’t be talking about it except for The Office. First time in print? Certainly people needed bigger boats for things before Jaws or had lists of bucket assignments for janitorial, deck swabbing, or milking duty before Bucket Lists. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/23 "2024-12-02T19:11:33Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > We wouldn’t be talking about it except for The Office. First time in print? Certainly people needed bigger boats for things before Jaws or had lists of bucket assignments for janitorial, deck swabbing, or milking duty before Bucket Lists. It looks like “that’s what she said” as double entendre predates _The Office_, though–going back on TV at least to 1975 SNL. > **["That's What She Said": Who Said It First?](https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/thats-what-she-said/)** > > That’s what she said is a form of innuendo that takes innocent statements out of context and makes them sound lewd or sexual. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/24 "2024-12-02T19:14:15Z")
Nuke it from orbit. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/25 "2024-12-02T19:17:09Z")
I was thinking about this quote the other day did it come from that movie _This is Spinal Tap_? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/26 "2024-12-02T19:20:04Z")
“That’s what she said”? That was around since forever. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/27 "2024-12-02T19:21:08Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > as double entendre predates _The Office_ It wouldn’t be up for discussion in this thread if not for the later use. That it was an old, tired joke is why the Michael Scott character says it. How you like them apples? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/28 "2024-12-02T19:22:02Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > It wouldn’t be up for discussion in this thread if not for the later use. That it was an old, tired joke is why the Michael Scott character says it. It’s _not_ up for discussion in this thread–it absolutely breaks the very first rule in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/29 "2024-12-02T19:44:35Z")
No one posted any movie examples within a couple hours so I took the liberty of expanding the thread in the usual fashion. But people have always left Kansas, had little friends, declared their intent to return, offer to have days made. ‘That’s what she said’ is a Michael Scott thing, just like we all know who has shorts to be eaten, where the beef is, or which direction I get beamed. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/30 "2024-12-02T19:47:13Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > ‘That’s what she said’ is a Michael Scott thing This is 100% false. Lots of people have said that for decades, dating back at least to the 80s (when I started hearing it in high school and college). ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/31 "2024-12-02T19:47:45Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I was thinking about this quote the other day did it come from that movie _This is Spinal Tap_? Yeah. I don’t think there’s a line in that scene where it’s said exactly that way, but I would think variations count if they’re obvious. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/32 "2024-12-02T19:47:54Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > > > Elementary, my dear Watson! > > Damn, that may be a winner. Except that the first use was not in a movie, although also not in the Sherlock Holmes Canon. No one knows exactly where it comes from, but the earliest cite is a Holmes parody dated 1901 where the line is “Elementary, my dear Potson”. (Potson being the parody’s Watson, of course.) [https://quoteinvestigator.com/2016/07/14/watson/](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2016/07/14/watson/) ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/33 "2024-12-02T19:57:08Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > the first thing that came to mind for me was “I’m not even supposed to be here today.” Me, too. (Show me you work retail/customer service without telling me you work in r./c.s.) ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/34 "2024-12-02T20:00:39Z")
“Bond, James Bond.” - substituting whatever name is appropriate “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.” – _Network_ (1976) “I’m too old for this shit.” - _Lethal Weapon 2_(?) (1989) “He chose…poorly.” – _Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade_ (1989) “Fuck the bonus.” – _Wanted: Dead or Alive_ (1986), in common use among certain old-school pinball players who end up tilting the machine in a failed effort to save a ball from going into an out lane, thereby forfeiting their accumulated bonus ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/35 "2024-12-02T20:02:45Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > “I’ll be back” (Arnie’s catchphrase) also seems to get used in earnest quite a bit As does “Hasta la vista, baby.” ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/36 "2024-12-02T20:05:25Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Except that the first use was not in a movie, although also not in the Sherlock Holmes Canon. No one knows exactly where it comes from, but the earliest cite is a Holmes parody dated 1901 where the line is “Elementary, my dear Potson”. (Potson being the parody’s Watson, of course.) > > [Quote Origin: Elementary, My Dear Watson – Quote Investigator®](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2016/07/14/watson/) Ooh, good catch! The multitude of uses of the phrase prior to the movies suggests that it was commonly known before then, even if it wasn’t invented by the movies. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/37 "2024-12-02T20:39:03Z")
“The usual suspects” came from _Casablanca_. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/38 "2024-12-02T20:43:38Z")
William Goldman came up with the line “Follow the money” for _All The President’s Men._ Here’s one I’ve wondered about: was “the perfect storm” in common use before the book/movie _The Perfect Storm?_ ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/39 "2024-12-02T20:44:53Z")
Yeah, that’s one of those things where people think the first place they saw a thing is the same as its origin. ‘That’s what SHE said’ (or equivalent ways of highlighting an innuendo such as ‘said the actress to the bishop’) is a really old joke-form that probably dates back to Victorian music-hall comedy or before. It’s not tremendously easy to find exact examples of ‘that’s what she said’ going back that far, but it is trivial to prove that it’s not a Michael Scott thing - [here’s](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-phrases-that-sound-dirty-but-have-no-dirty-words/19936/70) someone on the SDMB discussing it several years before _The Office_ first aired in the USA. (It’s probably something Ricky Gervaise also said in the original series of _The Office_, but he didn’t invent it either - it’s _old_) ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/40 "2024-12-02T21:13:26Z")
The saying in the original _The Office_ was in fact the one you’ve mentioned (almost): “as an actress said to a bishop”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068.md?page=3)