Another MASH phrase is “Pros from Dover” (people who are assumed to be great experts because they are from out-of-town) - but though it is in the movie, it came from the book first.
Here’s another thing like the “unobtainium” discussed above.
It’s not popularized much beyond mechanical engineering nerds, but the “turbo encabulator” lives on as the archetypical unbuildable device. And it’s damn fine acting to boot. This original idea has been reprised umpteen times using different forms of tech and different actors, but “… encabulator” is the magic name for all of them.
Did Friends also give us “That’s so [a phrase, rather than an adjective follows],” as in, “That’s so not a good example!” “That’s so the opposite of easy!” or “That’s so my favorite movie!”
“Respect mah authoritah!” - Eric Cartman from South Park. People often use it to describe the attitudes of certain police officers and departments.
Both of those just HAVE to be said with the exact Cartman or Chandler tone of voice:
Of course, when anyone in our poker clique mimics the latter, someone is obligated to turn to them and, overacting, say “Can you BE any more Chandler Bing?”
ETA: Oh, someone should mention “Legen…”
(catchphrase of Barney Stinson; NPH’s character on HIMYM)
…
“…dary!”
That may have been popularized by South Park, but isn’t that from the Paul Newman film Cool Hand Luke?
I don’t remember the line from the movie and there’s no reference to it online.
Also, when Cartman says it, he’s referencing “The man with no eyes” guard with his reflective glasses. But I don’t think “The man with no eyes” ever speaks in the movie.
From “Cool Hand Luke – Wiki Information” at StubPass.com:
“In the comedy series South Park , the episode The Chicken Lover in year 2 has Cartman channeling the ‘Man with no eyes’ when he becomes a temporary deputy. The closeup of Cartman’s face and the immortal phrase “Respect my Authoritah” are clearly a homage to Cool Hand Luke .”
(Bolding mine.)
Wazz = pee. It’s in the online dictionaries, but has no origin date. I believe it originated from ICarly, and was used in Victorious and Sam and Cat which existed in the same TV universe.
Also from the ICarly universe, bobknocker. I’m not sure if this dictionary.com definition is true or not, but supposedly it existed before the show.
From Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory snozzberries, Oompa Loompas and Oompa Loompaland.
The Grand Poohbah is a character in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado, from 1885.
This isn’t unique to, but certainly popularized by Dragnet: “Just the facts, ma’am.”
Yes, but was “Respect my authority (or authoritah)” ever said in Cool Hand Luke? If so, I’ll concede that it originated there. If not then it’s South Park.
Cool Hand Luke did give us “What we’ve got here, is failure to communicate,” though.
Wazz is a British slang word for urinating that long predates iCarly. Perhaps someone on the writing team heard it and liked the vaguely onomatopoeic sound.
I may have missed this already in the thread but before Jurassic Park a raptor just meant a bird.
A particular kind of bird - a hawk or eagle, not a sparrow
Thagomizer was humorously introduced by a Gary Larson cartoon to describe the spikes near the end of the tail of a stegosaurus. The paleontology community has unofficially adopted the term, since there has not been a technical name for it.
I know it isn’t a TV show or movie, but I found it interesting nonetheless.
The legal profession has unofficially adopted the term “Chewbacca defense” from the South Park episode “Chef Aid.”
“Cromulent” is my favorite. That’s a Principal Skinner-ism, isn’t it?
The velociraptor was discovered and named in 1923. But the “velociraptors” depicted in the film and described in the novel are actually modeled very closely - in both appearance and behavior - after the Deinonychus. Michael Crichton admitted he used the wrong name because “velociraptor” sounded cooler.
Actual velociraptors were smaller and much more birdlike, so they were aptly named. The general public just wasn’t very familiar with the species before Jurassic Park… and as it turns out, not so much after it either.
Inquiring minds want to know.