# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/161 "2024-12-12T00:13:45Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Do you feel lucky, punk? Except that’s not the exact quote uttered by Dirty Harry. It’s “you’ve gotta ask yourself one question: “Do I feel lucky?” Well, do ya, punk?” Watch it here: [Dirty Harry (2/10) Movie CLIP - Do You Feel Lucky, Punk? (1971) HD - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38mE6ba3qj8) At about the 1:41 mark. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/162 "2024-12-12T01:23:30Z")
Right, but the OP wasn’t explicit about it being an _exact_ quote, and the bastardized version is close enough that people understand the reference. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/163 "2024-12-12T02:00:38Z")
Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/164 "2024-12-12T12:55:05Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Meanwhile back at the ranch” has to be from silent days I suspect that, like the phrase “we’ll head 'em off at the pass”, this is one that people think is pretty common in Westerns, but, in fact, rarely or never is used. I only found one case of a non-ironic use of “head them off at the pass”, snd I suspect you won’t find any other non0ironic uses of variations of “Meanwhile, back at the ranch” besides the ones already cited. ---
**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 12, 2024, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/165 "2024-12-12T16:16:55Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > “That’ll be the day” is pretty good as well. How would you know someone’s quoting the Western and not Buddy Holly? ---
**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:** [December 12, 2024, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/166 "2024-12-12T18:59:15Z")
I remember it being kicked around during the bleak Minnesota winter of 1984. It was quite the cool and trendy Edina-milieu catchphrase. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/167 "2024-12-12T19:03:28Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > “Do you like gladiator movies?” I actually used this on the radio when I was interviewing a guy I’d never met before with the sobriquet “Crazy Ziggy,” owner of the first American restaurant in Moscow. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2024, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/168 "2024-12-12T19:04:26Z")
This far down and nobody’s mentioned “I’ll have what she’s having” ?!? ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/169 "2024-12-12T19:09:45Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > This far down and nobody’s mentioned “I’ll have what she’s having” ? Post # 56 > [@GuanoLad](#): > > “I’ll have what she’s having.” > > From **When Harry Met Sally** of course ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/170 "2024-12-12T19:09:48Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > How would you know someone’s quoting the Western and not Buddy Holly? Most of the time they’re not. They’re just using a phrase that conveys an idea. That’s why I think it fits nicely with the OPs definition. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/171 "2024-12-12T21:55:16Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > > [@Cheesesteak](#): > > > > That’ll be the day” is pretty good as well. > > How would you know someone’s quoting the Western and not Buddy Holly? Buddy Holly wrote that song after seeing the western. So, by extension… ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/172 "2024-12-12T22:05:31Z")
I think the expression “Golden Ticket” came from the novel _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ by Raold Dahl in 1964 but was popularized by the 1971 movie. It gets used in all sorts of ways, possibly as often as “Bucket List”. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/173 "2024-12-12T22:27:57Z")
Miriam Webster claims “horror show” goes back to 1959, but doesn’t give the example. Polyglot Anthony Burgess used it in 1962’s A Clockwork Orange as an ironic pun on the Russian word “khorosho” for approval, made widespread by the 1971 Kubrick film, and the 1973 stage Rocky Horror Show and 1975 Rocky Horror Picture Show. ---
**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 12, 2024, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/174 "2024-12-12T22:41:08Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I think the expression “Golden Ticket” came from the novel _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ by Raold Dahl in 1964 but was popularized by the 1971 movie. This is a pretty good one–but the OP says > [@RickJay](#): > > It has to be essentially original to a movie script. There’s no question that “golden ticket” is original to the novel instead. And I think the novel’s a lot more popular among GenX kids than you might think: while movies almost inevitably have a greater reach, _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ was a classic read-aloud in the seventies and eighties in American elementary classrooms, and was a mainstay for plenty of kids. That said, it share a property with “Bucket List” that few of the other offerings do: when people talk about a Golden Ticket, they’re usually not alluding to the movie, in the way that someone is when they say “Yippee Kay Yay” or “I’ll have what she’s having” or “Do you feel lucky, punk?” ---
**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 12, 2024, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/175 "2024-12-12T23:00:09Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Buddy Holly wrote that song after seeing the western. Did not know that. OK, then that one overtakes bucket list, if it comes from the movie and wasn’t a common phrase before then. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/176 "2024-12-13T01:18:37Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I think the expression “Golden Ticket” came from the novel _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ by Raold Dahl in 1964 but was popularized by the 1971 movie. It gets used in all sorts of ways, possibly as often as “Bucket List”. “Find a golden ticket” is on my Charlie Bucket list. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/177 "2024-12-13T01:43:46Z")
I have to believe the phrase is way older than the movie. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/178 "2024-12-13T01:45:11Z")
The phrase “horror show” must be older than 1959. And the Burgess usage is an odd cite. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/179 "2024-12-13T02:28:05Z")
[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/not\_in\_Kansas\_anymore](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/not_in_Kansas_anymore) ---
**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 13, 2024, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068/180 "2024-12-13T06:15:34Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > “Find a golden ticket” is on my Charlie Bucket list. Bravo [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-commonly-used-phrase-in-english-that-came-from-a-movie/1011068.md?page=10)