# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/141 "2020-11-24T22:44:27Z")
I called my sister a mindless _p’takh_ last week. [https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Klingonese#petaQ](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Klingonese#petaQ) (Apparently the writers for Trek can’t agree on a spelling for the word.) ---
**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:** [November 24, 2020, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/142 "2020-11-24T22:52:39Z")
“Khaleesi” became a thing that women called themselves and each other during Game of Thrones’ heyday, and apparently was even a semi-popular baby name for a short while. No staying power there, though. ---
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2020, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/143 "2020-11-25T03:51:40Z")
Using the phrase “nuke it from orbit” to mean absolutely obliterating your problem with overwhelming force or effort is [a bastardization of Ripley’s line](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGOtZDk6wRc) from the James Cameron movie _Aliens_. [Plaintively moaning “game over, man, game over!”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_j8W-SDefU) echoes Bill Paxton’s character Hudson in the same film. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum\_45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum_45/32/3385_2.png) [@eburacum\_45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum_45)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2020, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/144 "2020-11-25T09:34:55Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > No, as I said it’s a scientific in-joke, in keeping with other terms in physics, I agree with this. The ‘unobtainium’ on Pandora would have been discovered by the first explorers, some time before the events of this movie: I would hazard a guess that these explorers would have had a scientific sense of humour, and named the material as a joke. Remember, unobtainium is not found anywhere in the Earth’s Solar System, and can’t be manufactured by Earth tech; to get it you have to go all the way to another star. This is good worldbuilding, not lazy writing. Not everything about Avatar is good worldbuilding (why do the animals have six legs, and the Na’vi have only four limbs?) but this is one of the better bits. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2020, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/145 "2020-11-25T11:50:28Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > The comparison “Bigger than a breadbox” came from “What’s My Line?” Yes, asked by Steve Allen on January 18, 1953. And the question stuck. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2020, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/146 "2020-11-25T15:52:58Z")
“Saying the quiet part loud” comes from a 1995 “Simpsons” episode. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2020, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/147 "2020-11-26T03:13:15Z")
Missed it by _that_ much. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2020, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/148 "2020-11-26T04:34:43Z")
From _Friends_: Chandler’s “Could I be anymore . . .?” and all its variations. ---
**Author:** ![BigDfromLA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@BigDfromLA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigDfromLA)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2020, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/149 "2020-11-26T07:19:38Z")
MILF was used in the film American Pie from 1999. I had never heard the term previous to that. John Cho played a random kid (credited as “MILF guy”) who both used and explained the term as he referred to Stiffler’s Mom. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2020, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/150 "2020-11-26T08:46:50Z")
In _The Forbidden Zone_, there’s “Banana Royal”. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2mdVyjg-4O4/hqdefault.jpg "FoRbiddeN ZoNe - ''aah, baNaNa RoYaLe!''") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mdVyjg-4O4) Monty Python - “splunge”, “nudge, nudge” “my hovercraft is full of eels”, “and now”, “I’d like to complain”, “my brain hurts”, “just a flesh wound”, “'tis but a scratch”. “Liger” - _Napolean Bonaparte_ Sure, they’ve been around before the movie, but for anyone who’s seen _BP_, that would be ground zero for ligers. De Niro and Shepherd hashing out “organizize” (?) in _Taxi Driver_: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/1ve57l3c19g/maxresdefault.jpg "Taxi Driver (2/8) Movie CLIP - I Gotta Get Organized (1976) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ve57l3c19g) And while “brass balls” has probably been around for as long as the metal has existed, I think it’s safe to say that Alec Baldwin somewhat upped its game in _Glengarry Glen Ross_ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6FWfKoc-MKM/hqdefault.jpg "It takes BRASS BALLS to sell real estate!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FWfKoc-MKM) ---
**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:** [November 26, 2020, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/151 "2020-11-26T08:55:01Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Napolean Bonaparte Nitpick: Napoleon Dynamite ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2020, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/152 "2020-11-26T12:00:49Z")
There were already “poobahs”, but I believe that the Flintstones introduced “Grand” poobahs. And I believe Laugh-in coined “sock it to me”. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2020, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/153 "2020-11-26T13:30:12Z")
You bet your bippy they did. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2020, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/154 "2020-11-26T15:47:11Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Nitpick: Napoleon Dynamite ACK - headsmack. Guess I was gettting it mixed up with Petain Foshizzle. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/155 "2020-11-26T15:56:19Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > ACK - headsmack. > Guess I was gettting it mixed up with Petain Foshizzle Don’t feel bad - I’ll bet you’ve got great bow-hunting skillz. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2020, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/156 "2020-11-26T16:03:48Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > And I believe Laugh-in coined “sock it to me”. Far from it. Long in use, they were taking advantage of it’s recent appearance in a little Aretha Franklin ditty spelled R-E-S-P-E-C-T. The traditional meaning of ‘sock it’, blunt unadorned speech, took on a sexual aspect. The style of the 60s was to pretend such innuendo did not exist to avoid explaining what it meant and Laugh-In took great advantage of that. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2020, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/157 "2020-11-26T16:15:59Z")
“What’s it for?” “Why, nothing. Nothing. That’s the beauty of it.” - _Burke’s Law_ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/OakyRixuNA0/hqdefault.jpg "That's the beauty of it") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OakyRixuNA0) ---
**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:** [November 27, 2020, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/158 "2020-11-27T04:10:15Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Monty Python - “splunge”, “nudge, nudge” “my hovercraft is full of eels”, “and now”, “I’d like to complain”, “my brain hurts”, “just a flesh wound”, “'tis but a scratch”. And last but not least, “Ni” As in the Knights Who Say. ---
**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:** [November 27, 2020, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/159 "2020-11-27T04:52:31Z")
“That rug really tied the room together.” ---
**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:** [November 27, 2020, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081/160 "2020-11-27T12:44:03Z")
I’ve seen M_A_S\*H several times on TV and they occasionally mention “meatball surgery”. I assumed this was a commonly used phrase. Inspired by the Frank Burns thread I just finished the book it came from. A line in the book implied that this phrase was only used by those “in the swamp”. A search on the internet shows that “meatball surgery” may have been coined by the author of the book. But, I don’t know… just going by what I read. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-that-were-that-were-coined-by-a-tv-show-or-movie/926081.md?page=9)