# What is the origin of "You owe me a Coke?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 10, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038 "2012-08-10T02:22:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/1 "2012-08-10T02:22:47Z")
Too people say the same word(s) simultaneously. First person who says “you owe me a Coke,” is, ostensibly owed a Coke. But it’s just a fun acknowledgement of the event. I guess the fake punch to the shoulder is a refinement. It sounds like, come to think of it, like it was a great add for Coke, and has become integrated into our culture. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/2 "2012-08-10T02:55:34Z")
We always said, “Jinx!” “Buy me a coke” was something you could say later. You could also say “stone jinx” or other things that had different punishments. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/3 "2012-08-10T03:19:49Z")
First I’ve heard of it was in Simpsons’ Treehouse of Terror II. [Mr. Burns performs a lobotomy on Homer without anesthesia.] **Homer:** Ow. Ow! OW! **Mr. Burns:** Quit complaining! This way I don’t have to waste money on morphine! Well Smithers, you were right, he was not dead. I guess I owe you a Coke. Dunno if that’s the original source, but it got me using it. Also in Treehouse of Terror V: **Montgomery Burns:** Yes, by cutting off cable TV, and the beer supply, I’ll be able to ensure an honest winter’s work out of those low-lifes… **Smithers:** Sir, did you ever stop to think that maybe it was doing this that caused the previous caretakers to go insane and murder their families? **Montgomery Burns:** Mmm, perhaps. Tell you what, we come back and everyone’s slaughtered, I owe you a Coke. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/4 "2012-08-10T04:11:43Z")
When I was a kid, I just knew about saying “jinx” and then the other person couldn’t speak until you said their name. The first time I heard the “buy me a coke” bit added on was in a skit on an old episode of Saturday Night Live (Dec. 15, 1984, apparently). > **[Saturday Night Live, Dec. 15, 1984 (Host: Eddie Murphy)](https://www.avclub.com/saturday-night-live-dec-15-1984-host-eddie-murphy-1798232137)** > > Within about a year of Saturday Night Live’s 1975 debut, the backlash had already begun. As the show rapidly grew in popularity, and the Not Ready For Prime-Time Players showed up on magazine covers and in Hollywood movies, some of SNL’s original... ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/5 "2012-08-10T05:15:53Z")
You’re right, I remember saying only “jinx” when I was growing up, but not the part of not saying the other person’s name. Howeve, it was imperative that you say “jinx” first. “Stone jinx” was what again? I wonder if non-USA people do this. But the mystery continues… ---
**Author:** ![Satellite\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Satellite\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satellite_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/6 "2012-08-10T05:45:50Z")
I’m familiar with it as **Owe me a beer**. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/7 "2012-08-10T07:02:51Z")
The saying I’m familiar with is “pinch, poke, you owe me a Coke.” As you’re saying “pinch, poke”, you actually pinch and poke the other person. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/8 "2012-08-10T13:12:19Z")
I can confirm this was said in the 60s. There were different variations, but all revolved around two people saying the same word, and buying a Coke. In our neighborhood, you would say “ten cents or Coke” while punching (lightly, more like knocking) the person’s arm on each word. I think the rule was if they could get away, they didn’t owe you anything. I have seen this done literally hundreds, if not thousands of times growing up, and I don’t recall one Coke ever being bought by the losing party. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/9 "2012-08-10T13:43:07Z")
There was a Laurel and Hardy short\* where they spoke the same thing at the same time, only their routine went something like: [Place fingers on each other’s noses] L: Shakespeare! H: Longfellow! L: What goes up the chimney? H: Smoke! L: What goes down the chimney? H: Santa Claus! Then they do some complicated finger and arm routine. \*ETA: Google says it was _Our Relations_. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/10 "2012-08-10T15:37:03Z")
I grew up in northern Ontario (1970s)and it was always “Jinx”. Then you couldn’t talk till your name was said. My son (Northern Ontario/Vancouver, Grade 4 right now) does “Jinx, now you owe me a soda” Which is weird, because a) I’ve heard the Coke variation but never soda. b) We don’t say soda, we say pop. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/11 "2012-08-10T15:37:12Z")
> [@Satellite\_Guy](#): > > I’m familiar with it as **Owe me a beer**. Seconded ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/12 "2012-08-10T17:00:59Z")
Cleveland, Ohio are early sixties: “Jinx, horse, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10, you owe me a Coke.” No Cokes were ever paid to my knowledge perhaps partly because the other person could stop the whole thing simply by hollering “stop” before you got through. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/13 "2012-08-10T23:18:01Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > There was a Laurel and Hardy short\* where they spoke the same thing at the same time, only their routine went something like: > > [Place fingers on each other’s noses] > L: Shakespeare! > H: Longfellow! > L: What goes up the chimney? > H: Smoke! > L: What goes down the chimney? > H: Santa Claus! > > Then they do some complicated finger and arm routine. > > \*ETA: Google says it was _Our Relations_. I have no idea what this means, particularly the Shakespeare/Longfellow line, in the absence of a challenge. More important, I have no idea why this was posted (aside from general geniality, which is always welcome). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/14 "2012-08-10T23:31:10Z")
Australia. Not speaking for the whole country, but my group of mates at age 8 or so would link pinkies, then each person had to name a poet before the jinx was broken and the parties could speak normally again. That may be derived from the Laurel and Hardy routine, or it may be that both are derived from some older meme. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/15 "2012-08-10T23:32:21Z")
When I was a kid, you had to do this. _two people say same thing at the same time_ Me: Jinx! (Other person can’t talk now) Me: (saying) Pinch _pinches the other person_, Poke _pokes the other person_, you owe me a coke! Now they have to get me a coke before they are allowed to talk again or they get pinched/poked again. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/16 "2012-08-11T02:56:30Z")
“Snap” has evolved in meaning, replaced by “jinx,” it appears. This thread is the first time I’ve come across “jinx” used that way. My mother (born 1913, western Canada) and her generation used “snap” when two people said the same thing at the same time, and I heard it used that way in Hollywood movies made in the '30s and '40s, so its use that way can’t be a regionalism. Then “snap” was back [**but used under different circumstances**](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=snap). “You owe me a Coke,” like “jinx,” is new to me, too. ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/17 "2012-08-11T04:08:25Z")
Where I grew up in the 50’s one person would punch the other in the upper arm and say “jinx on a Pepsi.” I never liked Pepsi so never worried about collecting. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/18 "2012-08-12T16:06:53Z")
> [@Satellite\_Guy](#): > > I’m familiar with it as **Owe me a beer**. Thirded. If anyone said to me “I owe you a not very pleasant tasting, fizzy beverage”, I’d respond with “And I owe you a smack in the mouth”. Coke ! The proof that mass advertising, by stealth or otherwise, can sell massive amounts of an otherwise forgettable product . ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/19 "2012-08-13T04:29:50Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > When I was a kid, you had to do this. > > _two people say same thing at the same time_ > > Me: Jinx! > > (Other person can’t talk now) > > Me: (saying) Pinch _pinches the other person_, Poke _pokes the other person_, you owe me a coke! > > Now they have to get me a coke before they are allowed to talk again or they get pinched/poked again. See, all we ever did was the name thing. Anyone could say your name, and you’d be able to talk again. You could also defend against this by saying jinx at the same time they did, which would variously negate the effects. I knew some kids who took it very seriously, too. They stopped getting in trouble for talking in class for quite a while–until the teacher said their name. ---
**Author:** ![Herobrine\_s\_Daughter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Herobrine\_s\_Daughter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Herobrine_s_Daughter)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-you-owe-me-a-coke/631038/20 "2017-03-04T22:01:14Z")
I have heard so many different kinds of jinxes Ex. Person 1 and 2: blah blah blah (to lazy to make them say something) Person 1: JINX 1 2 3 4… 10 But if person 2 says stop before person 1 reaches 10 then person 1 is jinxed The jinx that i like though is this one Ex. 1 Person 1 and 2: blah blah blah (again lazy) Person 2: JINX Person 1: Jinx is a joke you owe me a coke Person 2: Coke machine is out of order now you owe me a quarter Another i like to use is this one Ex. 2 Person 1 and 2: blah (…) Person 2: JINX YOU OWE ME A SODA (or coke) Person 1: Soda machine is out of order now you owe me a quarter (just the beginning is different :p)