You are mythtaken*. (*Coined in Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
It was first aired December 20, 1986–thus before the Fox sitcom.
OK since others have mentioned phrases from Star Trek I think will mention words I believe were created for the show:
Tricorder
Star Date
Redshirt
Phaser
Holodeck
Warp Drive
Dilithium
Hypospray
Not mention the entire Klingon language,
Did anybody actually say the word “Redshirt” in a Star Trek episode or movie? I think this is a fan invention to describe the inevitability doomed anonymous member of the landing party, not a term coined by the franchise itself.
Splash maybe invented, and certainly at least popularized, “Madison” as a girl’s name. Were any females given the name “Madison” before 1984 (when the movie came out)? Most of the females listed in that Wikipedia link were born after Splash, and I think the few that weren’t were not named Madison at birth.
Nowadays it’s become quite common for girls to be given “last names” as first names (look at all the Taylors, Kennedys, etc.), so Madison might well have become a girl’s name by now even without the movie—unless the movie is responsible for that general trend, and not just the specific name Madison?
Now that you mention it you maybe right!!!
Some more words from Trek:
Hologenerator
Replimat
Latinum
There are quite a few terms that Star Trek at least popularized (maybe you could include “transporter” and “beam” (as in “Beam us up, Scotty”)), but how many of these were invented by/for the show and how many were borrowed from existing, less well-known science fiction?
“The friend zone” (the idea that friendship is incompatible with romance) was invented, as far as I know, in the Friends episode “The One with the Blackout.”
“Going commando” (wearing no underwear) was popularized but not invented by Friends
“Five-O” (slang for the police) is from the 1960s and '70s series Hawaii Five-O. The police organization depicted in the series is entirely fictional. “Book 'em, Dano” from the same series is more of a catchphrase and probably not what the OP had in mind.
“G-man” (federal government agent) was not invented but was popularized by the 1935 Cagney film G-men.
Gosh, there are so many good ones from the Simpsons. Saxamphone, stabby, and Lousy Smarch weather and those are just from the S section. Apparently, the Simpsons coined the term Yoink. It takes a conscious effort to not greet the guy next door “Hi diddly ho, neighborino!” Nelson’s ‘Haw-haw’ frequently rattles around in my head. I often praise Jebus.
I’m sorry, the card says Moops.
Naw, that was earlier.
Ancient Brit punchline.
No, Wendy was a name used before that, but not commonly and often for boys.
Wasn’t “yoink” used on Scooby Doo?
I think it was “Zoinks!”
In the same vein of “Words that were around but were unknown until being used in a movie”
MILF (Mother I’d Like to Fuck) - American Pie (1999)
Curb-Stomp - American History X (1998)
It’s worth clarifying that it wasn’t just that memorable sentence that came from the show. The word “self-destruct” was coined by the Mission Impossible screenwriters.
Round up the usual suspects.
Here’s looking at you, kid.
This could be the start of a beautiful friendship.
(Yes, I just finished watching Casablanca for the umpteenth time.)
Huh. I thought that was where I had put it in the first place, but apparently I was mistaken.
You are correct. I actually very nearly included a sentence in the OP specifically stating that I didn’t mean simply catch phrases that were made popular by a show, but I wasn’t quite sure how to word it so I just gave up and hit the post button.
To clarify, I said “or phrases” because I didn’t want to limit the discussion to only single words. But that doesn’t mean every single popular catch phrase qualifies. I was thinking more of new expressions invented to describe a concept that we previously didn’t have a succinct name for.
I didn’t give any multi word examples in the OP simply because I couldn’t think of any at the time, but I think “the friend zone” is a good example of the sort of phrase I meant. I’m sure people understood the concept before Friends, but there wasn’t really a name for it until they used that phrase, and now it’s become a commonly used phrase that many people might not even realize originated from Friends.
And that is a) something I didn’t know before, and b) another great example of the sort of phrase I was looking for. (Although that one is more of a compound word than a phrase).
“Wishing someone to the cornfield” from the 1961 Twilight Zone episode It’s A Good Life, based on the 1953 short story by Jerome Bixby. In the story, 6 year old Anthony Fremont would actually wish people away to the cornfield for not having good thoughts. It’s come into the popular culture to mean anything which has apparently disappeared from existence.
"I didn’t give any multi word examples in the OP simply because I couldn’t think of any at the time, but I think “the friend zone” is a good example of the sort of phrase I meant. I’m sure people understood the concept before Friends , but there wasn’t really a name for it until they used that phrase, and now it’s become a commonly used phrase that many people might not even realize originated from Friends "
Fair enough. But given the the billions of people that have lived and died in the last century, it’s extremely unlikely that any phrase didn’t exist in the same form before it was popularized by a TV show or movie. Looking up the definition and use of the word “coined”, it indeed started out as meaning a new word or phrase, but has changed to generally mean a word or phrased popularized by something.
I thank you for clarifying the intent of this thread, but the genie of coined to mean popularized has been let out of the bottle and personally I find the responses that vein very interesting and entertaining.