# Words or phrases that were that were coined by a TV show or movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 20, 2020, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081 "2020-11-20T23:57:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/201 "2020-12-03T19:47:46Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > **Wheelhouse** , as in whether or not a subject is familiar to a person. As in “Sorry, but nuclear physics isn’t in my wheelhouse.” I don’t recall hearing it before _Deadliest Catch_ came around. > **[The Grammarphobia Blog: Are you in our wheelhouse?](https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2014/01/wheelhouse.html)** > > Is it OK to use the word "wheelhouse" to mean a sphere of influence? > [@](#): > > The first originated in baseball, where “wheelhouse” means “the area of the strike zone where a particular batter is able to hit the ball most forcefully or successfully.” > … > The term leapt from sportswriting to everyday language in the 1980s. In this new, figurative sense, “wheelhouse” means “the field in which a person excels; one’s strongest interest or ability,” the _OED_ says. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/202 "2020-12-03T19:57:26Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > **Wheelhouse** , as in whether or not a subject is familiar to a person. As in “Sorry, but nuclear physics isn’t in my wheelhouse.” I don’t recall hearing it before _Deadliest Catch_ came around. I haven’t seen the show, but do they use it in a literal or a figurative sense? I’m sure I heard the sports usage long before that, and [ngram viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=wheelhouse%2C+wheel-house&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=3&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cwheelhouse%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cwheel%20-%20house%3B%2Cc0) indicates an initial peak in the 1940s, almost certainly from the sports usage. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/203 "2020-12-03T21:05:38Z")
Yeah. I’ve known “wheel house” as slang for your forte since I was a kid in the 1960s. Definitely not from _Deadliest Catch_. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/204 "2020-12-03T21:26:49Z")
In the first episode of _The West Wing_, Rob Lowe’s character has to explain the acronym “POTUS” to his date. While I’m sure Aaron Sorkin didn’t invent the term, I don’t recall hearing it before then, and I don’t think it was in general public use. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/205 "2020-12-03T23:11:06Z")
I first encountered POTUS in Christopher Buckley’s (yes, the son of William Buckley) 1986 novel _The White House Mess_. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/206 "2020-12-04T00:09:31Z")
“Kids, don’t try this at home” was, if not invented, then _wildly_ popularized by the early reality (and I used that term loosely) TV show _That’s Incredible._ ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2020, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/207 "2020-12-06T14:30:51Z")
This may not count, but “Houston, we have a problem” came from the Apollo 13 movie. What was really said was a little different. (I didn’t check to see if that is in the 200 or so posts before this). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2020, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/208 "2020-12-06T16:24:02Z")
Nope you’re first on Apollo 13. Here’s wiki’s take: > **[Houston, we have a problem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston,_we_have_a_problem)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > "Houston, we have a problem" is a popular but slightly erroneous quotation from the radio communications between the Apollo 13 astronauts Jack Swigert, Jim Lovell and the NASA Mission Control Center ("Houston") during the Apollo 13 spaceflight in 1970, as the astronauts communicated their discovery of the explosion that crippled their spacecraft to mission control. > The words actually spoken, initially by Swigert, were "Okay, Houston, we've had a ... ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/209 "2020-12-06T18:23:27Z")
To blave. Which we all know means to bluff. It would be inconceivable for me to believe that anybody not know where that phrase originates. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2020, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/210 "2020-12-06T19:21:21Z")
I have never heard of it. Where does it come from? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2020, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/211 "2020-12-06T19:25:02Z")
> [@Galactus](#): > > To blave. Which we all know means to bluff. > > It would be **inconceivable** for me to believe that anybody not know where that phrase originates. > [@cochrane](#): > > I have never heard of it. Where does it come from?  Princess Bride (bolding mine) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2020, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/212 "2020-12-06T19:36:23Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > This may not count, but “Houston, we have a problem” came from the Apollo 13 movie. What was really said was a little different. (I didn’t check to see if that is in the 200 or so posts before this) Does “failure is not an option” start here too? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/213 "2020-12-06T19:39:46Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Princess Bride (bolding mine) I figured out that must be where it was from because of that, but I have to say I have never heard anyone use it otherwise. Princess-Bridisms I have heard in the wild include “Mostly dead” and “Have fun storming the castle!” ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2020, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/214 "2020-12-06T20:05:53Z")
I’ve also heard “you keep using that word…” Sometimes with the rest of the quote. Always done with the accent. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/215 "2020-12-06T20:40:12Z")
And, “You killed my father. Prepare to die!” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/216 "2020-12-06T20:40:58Z")
“I am Spartacus!” ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/217 "2020-12-06T21:02:14Z")
We are here to PUMP YOU UP ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/218 "2020-12-06T21:14:26Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Does “failure is not an option” start here too? At one of my old corporate jobs, where management loved spouting inspirational catchphrases like that, we had a saying: “Failure is not an option - It’s a requirement.” ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2020, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/219 "2020-12-06T22:19:46Z")
There’s no crying in baseball ! ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2020, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/220 "2020-12-06T22:24:29Z")
When I lived in England for a period across the 80s and 90s there used to be a popular comedy show called **Chucklevision**. The show starred real life brothers Paul and Barry Chuckle who were old school slapstick, vaudeville performers. It was very family friendly and based around them taking on a job in everyday society or setting off on an adventure for which they had neither the expertise or the tools to pull off so had to improvise. They coined the phrase “To Me, To You” which became beloved in British pop culture. They’d work on a job for example carrying a mattress going down the stairs and the guy at the bottom would say “to me” and the guy at the top would reply “to you” and they would keep doing this until the guy at the bottom lost his step and fell. Or in some cases where they’d be working on a conveyer belt and go round in circles because they’d get their “to me’s” and “to you’s” mixed up. The other recurring characters included a man who would almost always be the guy who was the guy at the top of the chain of command where they were employed. He didn’t have a name but was affectionately known by his catchphrase “No Slacking”. Because every time he would brief them on their task he would end by menacingly warning/threatening “and remember NO SLACKING”. You would have to watch the show to really understand the humor behind it. It’s a classic over there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081.md?page=12)