# Who said "You don't say"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 5, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726 "2011-10-05T21:28:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/21 "2011-10-06T17:37:01Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > I remember it from a muppet skit on Sesame Street. Yes, I am a child of the 70s/80s, why do you ask? You poor lost soul. Your formative years were during the Disco Era and the TV series Dallas and the Love/STD boat? How do you manage to survive in these modern times? Is there some government program that helps people like yourself get along? 🙂 Not quite what the OP was asking, though maybe the brain/memory is playing some tricks here, but wasn’t Johnny Carson of the Tonight Show famous for saying that as well? ---
**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:** [October 6, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/22 "2011-10-06T17:57:43Z")
I think the roots of this go far back into vaudeville for the comic usage. I’m going to pose this in GQ to get the etymologists to work. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/23 "2011-10-06T21:41:32Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > It also sounds like something Groucho Marx would _love_, but while I see a few people attributing the joke to him I can find no actual cited quotes. It doesn’t sound so much like Groucho as Chico. In fact I can see the scene, with Chico on an old candlestick phone. You don’t say. You don’t say!! You don’t say!!! (Groucho) Who was that? He didn’t say. I hasten to point out that just because I can imagine the scene doesn’t mean it ever actually took place.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Clumsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Clumsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clumsy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/24 "2011-10-06T21:48:57Z")
Rosemary the receptionist in “Hong Kong Phooey”. Yes, I am a cultural polymath. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/25 "2011-10-06T22:05:22Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > For some reason, I thought I remembered there being a Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies cartoon that had this skit … First time I ever heard the joke was an episode of Hong Kong Phooey. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/26 "2011-10-06T22:11:23Z")
[Batman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCNPNs1pKoQ) did it, too… ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/27 "2011-10-06T22:17:48Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That must be what I’m thinking of. For some reason, I thought I remembered there being a Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies cartoon that had this skit (Bugs Bunny is what I was thinking), but I might be conflating it with the Three Stooges bit. You were probably thinking of [Happy Go Nutty](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTttAkELFZc), a Screwy Squirrel short. The “you don’t say” bit is at about [3:49](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTttAkELFZc#t=3m49s). ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/28 "2011-10-06T22:21:02Z")
I could be wrong but I doubt you’re ever going to find an original source, and I think focusing on the vaudeville joke is putting the cart before the horse – the twist comes with the final line, based on the set up, which implies that the usage in the setup was already a current speaking convention. That is, by the '30s at least, “you don’t say!” was a common response to some surprising or unusual piece of news. That seems to be a common formation in a lot of languages – inviting confirmation by saying something along the lines of “is that really the case, because I might have expected otherwise?” We do that too in a slightly different way when we say “Really??”, indicating our surprise by implying that the statement previously made was a bit surprising or implausible and needs verification. I suspect many languages, maybe most, have developed similar forms. In Japanese they’d use “hontou?” (really?) or maybe a couple of others I’m blanking on. I doubt anyone’s ever succeeded in attributing such usages to a single source in those languages either. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/29 "2011-10-06T23:01:35Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > You were probably thinking of [Happy Go Nutty](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTttAkELFZc), a Screwy Squirrel short. The “you don’t say” bit is at about [3:49](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTttAkELFZc#t=3m49s). That’s the right era and style, but I have no recollection of “Screwy Squirrel.” Although it’s possible I’ve seen that short in one of those old-style photo-booth looking things they used to have over at the K-Mart in the 80s, where you can put in a quarter (or was it two?) to watch a 3-minute cartoon. ---
**Author:** ![flano1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f14d63/32.png) [@flano1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flano1)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/30 "2011-10-06T23:04:47Z")
I always picture Edward Everett Horton wide eyed and rubbing his chin. ( Arsenic and Old Lace ? ) ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/31 "2011-10-07T21:36:22Z")
May I put forward Jerry Calonna (I think that is the spelling). The pencil thin moustached and palmaded Calonna’s most common tag line was “Yesssssss (with rising inflection),” after appearing in a service window (or something similar) of some sort. However, he also regularly said “You don’t say? (with almost a squeak at the end)” while rolling his eyes. He was a regular second banana to such comics as Benny, Hope, Abbot and Costello and the like. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/32 "2011-10-07T21:46:28Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > May I put forward Jerry Calonna (I think that is the spelling). The pencil thin moustached and palmaded Calonna’s most common tag line was “Yesssssss (with rising inflection),” after appearing in a service window (or something similar) of some sort. However, he also regularly said “You don’t say? (with almost a squeak at the end)” while rolling his eyes. > > He was a regular second banana to such comics as Benny, Hope, Abbot and Costello and the like. OK, it’s Colonna and here is the wikipedia cite: > **[Jerry Colonna (entertainer)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Colonna_(entertainer))** > > Gerardo Luigi Colonna (September 17, 1904 – November 21, 1986) was an American musician, actor, comedian, singer, songwriter and trombonist who played the zaniest of Bob Hope's sidekicks in Hope's popular radio shows and films of the 1940s and 1950s. He also voiced the March Hare in Walt Disney's 1951 animated feature film Alice in Wonderland. > Colonna started his career as a trombonist, in orchestras and dance bands in and around his native Boston; he can be heard with Joe Herlihy's Orchestra on... ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/33 "2011-10-08T00:42:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That must be what I’m thinking of. For some reason, I thought I remembered there being a Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies cartoon that had this skit (Bugs Bunny is what I was thinking), but I might be conflating it with the Three Stooges bit. I can recall Bugs doing it in that nasally drawl; the earliest I remember is one of the two crows doing it in a 16mm Heckle & Jeckyl cartoon that my brother found (with the projector) in the attic. It was pretty ancient back then… I think I remember one of the stooges doing that, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/34 "2011-10-08T03:35:41Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > May I put forward Jerry Calonna (I think that is the spelling). The pencil thin moustached and palmaded Calonna’s most common tag line was “Yesssssss (with rising inflection),” after appearing in a service window (or something similar) of some sort. However, he also regularly said “You don’t say? (with almost a squeak at the end)” while rolling his eyes. > > He was a regular second banana to such comics as Benny, Hope, Abbot and Costello and the like. > [@TV\_time](#): > > OK, it’s Colonna and here is the wikipedia cite: > > [Jerry Colonna (entertainer) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Colonna_(entertainer)) Correct me if I’m wrong, but I do believe you are conflating Colonna with [Frank Nelson.](http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/The_Yes_Guy) ---
**Author:** ![Kaltenmeyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e480ec/32.png) [@Kaltenmeyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaltenmeyer)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/35 "2014-05-30T15:47:14Z")
This routine shows up during a Spike Jones performance of the song “Chloe” on the radio program Bob Burns Show aka Lifebuoy Show of October 28, 1943. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/36 "2014-05-30T16:08:07Z")
> [@Kaltenmeyer](#): > > This routine shows up during a Spike Jones performance of the song “Chloe” on the radio program Bob Burns Show aka Lifebuoy Show of October 28, 1943. Already noted upthread. Which was about 3 years ago… ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/37 "2014-05-30T16:10:28Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > Correct me if I’m wrong, but I do believe you are conflating Colonna with [Frank Nelson.](http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/The_Yes_Guy) I came to suggest Frank Nelson and agree this sounds conflated. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/38 "2014-05-30T16:37:19Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I’m not sure you’re going to get a definitive answer, because it’s a pretty old joke. > > “You don’t say. …You don’t say! You don’t say? _You don’t say._” _hang up_ “Who was that?” “He didn’t say.” > > The best answer I can find with a cursory search is Benny Hill. I’m sure it’s been done before him, though. [Spike Jones’ rendition of “Chloe”.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KME5UuR9DZw) ---
**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:** [May 30, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/39 "2014-05-30T18:58:28Z")
I’m pretty sure **someone** did it in an old Looney Tune at least once (maybe Daffy Duck, probably just as Elmer Fudd was about to pull the trigger on his shotgun). ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726/40 "2014-05-30T19:27:42Z")
It’s also the punch line to an old joke about a wide mouthed frog, as recaptured in [this commercial](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpswiH_Vkes). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-you-dont-say/598726.md?page=3)