The oxford dictionary of catchphrases anna farkas

UNIVERSITY PRESS Great Clarendon Street, Oxford 0 x 26dp Oxford University Presses a department of the University of Oxford.. Enquiries cbncemingreproduction outside the scope of the abo

T his new dictionary presents a wide range of

familiar and well-loved catchphrases

Entries, drawn from television and radio shows,

details of who coined or employed each phrase,

build up a rich and entertaining picture of this

fascinating aspect of our language, at the same

m

history and usage of each phrase

A user-friendly index for locating all

Background descriptions of key

BOSTON

PUBLIC

LIBRARY

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in 2016

THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF

Catchphrases

t

THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF

Catchphrases

OXFORD

UNIVERSITY PRESS

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if someone says to you ‘Eat myshorts’, or ‘Followyour dreams

‘Left hand down a bit’, ‘Beautiful downtown Burbank’, or ‘Bernie, the

bolt’?And ifthose fail to press anybuttons, try ‘Can I do you now, sir?’,

during the Second World War, the lastgroup will raise a smile of

post-war baby-boomers And to make head or tail of‘Eat my shorts’ (from

This illustrates the curious dualityofcatchphrases There is an

undeniable ephemerality about them — David Crystalhas

youth or early adulthood— theystick in a corner of the mind, and

reliable a diagnostic oftheir age and interests as countingthe

growth-rings is in determiningthe age ofa tree.

‘catches’ people’s attention or interest). The memorable catchphrases

ofthe latter part of the nineteenth centuryare mostlyhucksterish

culture: a phrase (or occasionally a word—‘Pass!’

‘perfick!’ (TheDarlingBudsofMay)) which, through repeated usage, has

come to be identified with a particular individual, organization,

Catchphrases spring out ofa variety ofspheres, including literature,sport, and politics, but by far the most effusive sources are advertising

performers (notablycomedians) and radio and television programmes,

films, etc. This latter trend was accentuated fromthe late 1930s

specifically for radio, catchphrases provided predictable recognition

in Britain was ArthurAskey’s Bandwagon, first broadcast in 1938,

charge!’, and so on, and on), and scriptwriters would be hired to dream

new ones up (this phase in the history of the catchphrase was guyed in

‘Howqueer!’).

As television moved away from stand-up towards situation-based

comedy drama, catchphrases tended tobe linked more with fictional

Humphries’s ‘I’m free!’, Basil Fawlty’s ‘Don’t mention the war’,

Baldrick’s ‘I have a cunning plan’). Nor did the drama have to be

from PC George Dixon’s ‘Evening, all’ through Kojak’s ‘Who lovesya,

bequeathedpinta to the English language) to ‘I’m only here for the

beer’ (Double Diamond), from ‘Tell Sid’ (forgas privatization) to

This last reminds us that the pervasiveness ofUS media culture has

another day’, ‘Yabba-dabba-doo!’, ‘the kind mother used to make’, ‘You

cannot be serious!’, to mention only a tiny proportion Migration

MontyPython’sFlying Circus in the US did introduce one or two

completely different’ and ‘Nudge nudge, wink wink’

Catchphrases are self-validating, and we must take them or leave

them, but it has to be admitted that some of the best known ofthem

are less than 100 per cent genuine Sherlock Holmes never actually

Tarzan ‘Me Tarzan, youJane’.

to look up a half-remembered catchphrase that is part ofyour personal

JOHN AYTO

FromtheUS TVseriesHappyDays(1974-84)set inthe 1950s;popularized

by the cool, motorcycling Arthur ‘Fonzie’ Fonzarelli, also known as the

Fonz (Henry Winkler) who, when combing backhisbouffanthairstyle in

reflection with both thumbs up and this sound ofapproval The

suddenly kids all across the country were popping their thumbs in the

absolutely fabulous (orAbFab

with the BBC TV comedy series AbsolutelyFabulous 1992-6 (1994-7 in the

US). The series centred around the life ofEdina Monsoon, played by

predominantly femalecast—strucka special chord witha largesegment

single, the expression has become common currency, enteringthe

Windows 2000 Special Report, 5 February 2001)

accidento bizarro

action pumpo!

simply ‘bizarre accident’ (usually leading to a death—‘tuto morte’),

fact no news to report

.’ set in a fictitious South American country

Scarlett O’Hara’s final words ofoptimism and belief in a better future

1939 film version Known since the early 16th century in the form

commonly used from the early 20th century, finally becoming

with Scarlett in the novel, became even more widely identifiable

handymen (Cecil and Claude) on the BBC radio show ITMA, the most

ah, gee whiz, pop!

through virtually unchallenged in an after-you-Claude sort ofway as

.

by her off-screen husband, Desi Arnaz The popular show offered

television audiences hour-long stories of the misadventures of the

—

such as this one and ‘Vitameatavegamin’— and was widely imitated At

popular US Latin singer ‘ahhh, Ricky Martin’

I Love Lucywas so popular duringthe 1950s that in 1953, more

children’s game showChoose Up Sides (1956) and other 1950s children’s

Todman (responsible for the game shows What’s My Line and The Price is

Right), and pitted two groups of four children—the ‘Bronco Busters’

ain’t I a stinker?

theirown radio show in 1942 The phrase was also popularized by

rabbit was named in 1940 after West Coast mobster Bugsy Siegel,

ain’t it a shame, eh?ain’t it a shame?

that aired weekly 1939-49 Hbbbs (vyho later played radio’s

ain’tnobody here but us chickens! (, there

the chicken thief(usually a fox in cartoons), given to the farmerasking

‘Anybody there?’ upon hearing someone rustling about in his chicken

through the song —later recorded by many others, including BB King

and Lisa Stansfield—that the expression gained currency in the UK

alljam and Jerusalem

the song in 1916 during the run of the musical play, Mr

A songentitled ‘When you’re all dressed up and have no place to

slight variation on the wording, but the version that became

all human life is here

cats—all human life is there.’

Interviewwith the Vampire, when Louis, played by Brad Pitt, says ‘All

human life was here, for the taking And we took, all three ofus, in

our different ways.’

A British phrase, originating in the 1920s, commonly used to describethe Women’s Institute (WI) and its members The WI’s reputation for

fruit and vegetables to help in the effort to feed the nation Although

members were mistakenly and mockingly portrayed as God-fearing

women who sang the 1916 Blake/Parry arrangement ‘Jerusalem’ when

to attractyounger women.Jam andJerusalem: APictorial HistoryofBritain’s

all I know is what I read in the papers

Greatest Women’s Movement is the title ofa book by Simon

next guy, was very much in tune with ideas and attitudes of the

known as the ‘Cherokee Kid’, started tellingjokes while working in

clearly illustrate the simple wisdoiruRogers became so famous for.

all is well— and all will be well—in the garden

gardener and hero of the 1979 film Being There, based on the 1971

satirical novel by Jerzy Kosinski Chance, who has only had two

comments are invaluable Chance innocently comes out with simple

planting’, and these are taken as metaphors about economics

Having lived all ofhis life inside the walls ofan elegant Washington

the ingenue Chance has no notion of the workings of the real world

One day the master of the house dies and the household staff is

equipped with only his TV’s remote-control Sellers wanders out into

crust, and is immediately mistaken for Chauncey Gardiner, an

aristocratic businessman Thanks to a series ofmistaken assumptions,

this illiterate, ignorant, yet gentle, person quickly becomes the closest

all the news that s fit to print

all lies lead to the truth

One ofthe maxims popularized by The X-Files (1993-2002), a US cult TV

series that delves into the rich world ofthe paranormal The line

appeared in the opening episode ofthe fifth season, Redux As with the

show’s other major dictum, ‘believe the lie’ (see below), the belief

The X-Files at least, there can be no truth without lies. FBI Special

Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian

Anderson) are forever wading through streams of lies to

particularlycomputing) pep talks and promotional material

the newspaper’s editorial page on 25th October 1896 From February

benevolence of the newspaper’s owners He promised that the New

concept or premiss that some people are in a position to know and

determine what news is or isn’t ‘fit to print’ continues to hold true.

all we want is the facts, ma'am (or:just the facts, ma’am)

The 1997 Proxy Statement ofThe New York Times Company explainsthe special voting rights that assure family control in terms of the

desire for ‘an independent newspaper, entirely fearless, free of

ulterior influence and unselfishly devoted to the public welfare.’

all we want is the facts, ma’am (or;just the facts, ma’am)

story you are about to see is true; the names have been changed to

for its realism Webb returned to TV screens as Friday in 1967 with a

understood was that when someone told a story theywere always

never change, but how they are perceived and then spoken about

allyou addis love

A maxim popularized by a 1960s advertising campaign for Ralston

is love.’ Purina Dog Chow’s long-running string of ‘all you add is love’

TV commercials were narrated by B-movie cowboy actor and singerRex Allen The phrase is often used with reference to cooking and torecipes, deemed so complete that a bit ofloving care is all that is

America’s story teller

filmAce Ventura: Pet Detective (and sequels). In this whacky comedy Ace

Snowflake(amascotoftheMiami Dolphinsfootballteam).This phrase,a

The sarcastic epithet associated with British comedian Alfred Lester,

who was knownfor his consistently rueful demeanour on stage. Inthe

originalproduction of the musicalcomedyTheArcadians,whichranfrom

1909 to 1911 in London, Lesterplayed Doody, ajockey, and sang ‘My

were in realitygrim or sad situations, as in a Mr McGilligan’s statement

claimeditwashisfamily’sdoomedslogan.The four-wordstatementfirst

One of Bud Collyer’s catchphrases on the US TV game show To Tell

the Truth, which he hosted 1956-69 During the time the game

series was on the air, the phrase became a familiar part of popular

Anaheim, Azusa, and Cuc-ca-monga

through to 1981 Kodak Eastman, which started in 1888 with the

accessible to nearly everyone The result was close to a complete and

that ‘every picture tells a story’, and, more importantly, almost

everyone is taking pictures The phrase has been used to describe

train caller who announced via megaphone or loudspeaker system the

trains arriving and departing from the station. After announcing the

fired if I don’t get somebody on the train for Anaheim, Azusa, and

completed during the pause Having been made famous by this

long-runningjoke, the town ofRancho Cucamonga, in California, erected astatue honouring Jack Benny in 1993

ancient Chinese secret

aired 1972 In the TV commercial, a woman walks into a Chinese laundromat (launderette) and asks the owner how he gets her laundry

so fresh. He replies: ‘ancient Chinese secret.’ One then hears a woman

the man and says ‘ancient Chinese secret, huh?’ The phrase became an

and it's goodnight from me— and it's goodnight from him

know yourself, ‘ancient Chinese secret!’ was the simplest way to

say ‘I’m not going to tell you’ without being offensive It also

Shadow Warrior

Gleason Show, a US TV variety show which ran from 1952 to 1970 ‘The

best known as the scheming bus driver Ralph Kramden in The

helped it achieve cult status in endless reruns His other well-known

stress in the many absurd and bizarre situations and subjects

and I'm spent!

tired of some activity. The expression was popularized by Austin

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

The Two Ronnies which ran on BBC1 from 1971 to 1987 Starring for the

and knowing is half the battle

and Ronnie Corbett, created a consistent formula that prevailed

throughout the programme’s long run Each show started and

items In between there were sketches, musical extravaganzas v/herethe Ronnies danced, sang, or marched, adventure serials such as

inevitable rambling anecdote from Ronnie Corbett (seated in hischair) and, finally, the closing ‘newsreader’ slot: ‘It’s goodnight

from me— and it’s goodnight from him.’

and knowing is halfthe battle

Words ofwisdom following a piece ofadvice popularized by the action/

adventure US TVcartoon series G.I.Joe(1985-92, syndicated) G.I.Joewas

boy-friendlyrival toMattel’s successful Barbie line. The man-doll debuted in

themayheminvolvedineachepisode,noneofthemeverdied, andatthe

.And

Duringthe late 1980s, theUS government had passed a law requiring

service announcement (PSA) at its end Almost everyG.I.Joe episode

consequently ended with a message from a member (sometimes two)

ofG.I.Joe. The PSAs showed children in different situations, doing

Joes gave them advice The term ‘And knowingis half the battle’

series’ first season was: ‘Mutt

—

Don’t pet strange dogs: Don’t run! Walk

away slowly Never try to pet an animal you don’t know He might be

TV comedy series Get Smart (1965-70), a show spoofing James Bond

and so to bed!

how this latest mission would place Max in immense danger For

example, in Mr Big when Chief says ‘Max, you realize you’ll be

it!’ The initial ideas of the show, including Max’s recurring spy

Mel Brooks and Buck Henry

comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969-74) The line was used

in the show’s first episode on 5 October 1969 (spoken by Eric Idle),

sheep — which believed they were birds—as they nested in the trees.

understand the direction ofthe sketches, the camera cut to a shot ofa

man behind a news desk announcing, ‘And now for something

completely different .

.’ In subsequent episodes the announcer was

the most incongruous locations available It was also the title ofthe

Python team’s first feature film in 1971

found ourselves saying it. By that time, we’d identified it as a silly

and so to bed!

ends the day’s entry and first appeared a journal entry dated 20 April

and so we say farewell..

4,

period, was written in cipher, a kind of shorthand, and was not

decoded until 1825 The phrase consequently became a catchphrase in

character A musical, adapted from Fagan’s play by Vivian Ellis,

entitled And So to Bed.

‘Traveltalks’ were produced by MGM as pre-feature shorts, and

virtually traffic-free streets of‘Charming Ceylon’ and an unknowingly

1940s The phrase was repopularized when the sketch was later

performed by Peter Sellers in the late 1950s and early 1960s (first

and the best ofluck!

her son, Phil. The implausible thing about this is that Phil shows no

signs ofresentingthe sudden arrival ofhis mother, her large wardrobe

and a large bust of Queen Victoria’ (in the Guardian, 23 May 2001)

CBS Evening News over three decades Prized and admired for hisobjectivity and authoritative delivery, independent polls over the

and ‘and you were there’. He hosted the historical documentary series

.you are there!’ In

programme would always end with the following words: ‘What kind

ofday was it?A day like all days, filled with those events that alter and

and the best ofluck!

distinctly recognizable by his exaggerated expressions This and his

caught on and became histrademarks, and part ofeverydayvocabulary

sarcastically.

and the next object is

Words spoken by the Mystery Voice in Twenty Questions (1947-76), a

identify a word or phrase (‘animal, vegetable, mineral, or abstract’).

the original panel was Richard Dimbleby, Anona Winn, and Jack

Train, and the celebrity Mystery Voice was pianist Norman Hackforth

until he became a panellist in 1965 and was replaced by a new Mystery

Voice From December 1950 the series also ran on Radio Luxembourg,

music-hall comedians, it appears in Charles Dickens’s Martin Chuzzlewit

(1843), where it is used to reassure those concerned there would be no

characters; And There’s More Where That Came From! was also the title

investors (www.TheStreet.com, 22 June 2000)

and with that, I return you to the studio!

A common line given by an on-the-scene broadcaster, signalling the

second series) performing short sketches

See ‘here’s another fine mess you’ve gotten me/us into’.

apology is policy

used in a song entitled ‘I Love To Cry at Weddings’, featured in the

line was then made truly popular when it became an advertising

anywhere, anyway/Any time, any place, anywhere, any day.’

popular culture, cropping up in TV shows such as Doctor Who. In an

Romanadvoratrelundar, played by Mary Tamm 1978-9) says to the

demand “Martini Finance’’—access any time, any place, anywhere

—

anyone for tennis?

comedies of the 1920s and 1930s, and was then much associated with

Humphrey Bogart, who, so rumour had it, had delivered it as his first

line on stage It probably originated with George Bernard Shaw’s play

Misalliance (1914), in which the question, ‘Anybody on for a game of

tennis?’ appears

Eric Clapton wrote a mellow, melodic song called ‘Anyone For

third season’s two-part episode, entitled 731, on the popular US cultTV

series The X-Files (1993-2002) It neatly sums up what FBI Special Agent

overall doctrine of excusing itselffrom revealing and taking

are we down-hearted?— no!

responsibility for the truth By apologizing, the government can

justify or take responsibility for its actions if and when these truths

are revealed The phrase was first uttered by agent Dana Scully (Gillian

Anderson) in the same episode

are we down-hearted?— no!

times It was associated with the early stages of the First World War,

second speech Churchill said (ofLondoners during the Blitz): ‘There

we stood, alone Did anyone want to give in? [The crowd shouted

An earlier version ofthe phrase was used in a 1906 speech made by

are not downhearted The

Berlin song entitled ‘Someone’s Waiting For Me (We’ll Wait, Wait,

Wait)’ It had been picked up in America by the end of the

First World War, appearing as the title of an article in a 1919

issue of the Cleveland Advocate

are you out of your Vulcan mind?

to the people’ A Yorkshireman, Pickles, with his regional accent,

broke the ‘BBC English’ mould when he read the news in the 1940s,

are you a man or a mouse?

courage is in doubt, and one which rarely receives a serious answer Its

uses, as in Robert Burns’s poem ‘To a Mouse’ (1786)—

films such as Made ForEach Other (1939), in which Carole Lombard asks

Jimmy Stewart ‘What are you, a man or a mouse?’ and to which he

replies, without hesitation, ‘A mouse!’ The phrase has also cropped up

the wits of men are rarely a match for those of most of the

experimentation with drugs, an activity that characterized a lot ofthe

youth culture ofthe 1960s The phrase was adopted by young people,

—

Enterprise on the original US TV series Star Trek (1966-9) to his

half-human half-Vulcan friend and favourite verbal sparring partner

Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy) A witty extension of the

are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll/we’ll begin

well-worn idiomatic phrase ‘out ofyour mind’, used to express

disbelief in someone’s foolishness or lack of mental stability; ‘out of

your tiny mind’ is another more recent variation McCoy, who

attributes, used this phrase most memorably in the 1982 film. Star Trek

II: The Wrath ofKhan, when he tries in vain to stop Spock from

sacrificing his life to ensure the survival of the starship’s crew,

‘Are you out of your Vulcan mind?! No Human can tolerate the

are you sitting comfortably? Then ril/we’ll begin

Preamble to BBC children’s programme Listen with Mother (1950-82),

sub-series started in 1954, Listen on Saturday, introduced by

are you threatening me?

animated TV series Beavis and Butt-head, which centres on the two

debuted on MTV in 1992 and ran until 1997 Beavis and Butt-head have

doing whatever Butt-head tells him to do, which usually leads to

he’s had too much sugar Claiming to come from Lake Titicaca and

as every schoolboy knows

are you up for it?

for an activityor venture, that was popularized during the 1980s when

chosen for the drink’s advertising campaign because it was perceived

The citrus soda 7-Up was created in 1929; while most sources concur

earliest advertising slogan was ‘It takes the ouch out ofgrouch’

expense and ‘the finer things in life’ to sell a measure of status

dubious statement, and was used by the English philosopher Robert

Burton in The Anatomy ofMelancholy (1621), an analysis of depressionand compendium of medical and religious opinions of the time

Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, section 5 (1654). In this instance, what

as if!

called Aviator.

as if!

Sarcastic remark, similar to ‘right!’, employed when the opposite is

clearly correct. The response was associated with and

(Alicia Silverstone) The film, a comedy about teenage

Valley-speak)

as ifI cared

Welshman played by Hugh Morton, on the popular

fiddle, Vic Oliver’s’.

manager, marathon man, Britain’s first DJ, Mensa member, book

January 1964, Savile used the phrase practically unconsciously as a

ay thang yew

his syntactic habit, Savile made it the title of his 1974 autobiography

the association, as the book was published in 1976 under a new title

(Love is an Uphill Thing).

See ‘end ofcivilization as we know it’.

series chronicles the adventures of Homer Simpson and his wildly

the Simpsons’ oldest child. The sassy 10-year-old and borderline

interjection denoting surprise or astonishment, and has no

particular meaning in that language (similar in ways to “wow!’) It

ballroom dance

consequences ranging from the unpleasant to the calamitous,

belonging to Tony Micelli (Tony Danza) on the US TV series

to the chemistry between Tony and his boss, Angela Bower

(Judith Light) and the special bond their such seemingly

aye, aye, that’s yer lot

^

this particular pronunciation of ‘I thank you’ from London bus

Jimmy Wheeler The South London comic would invariably finish his

preceded by ‘Ta-ta for now, folks’. His stage act catchphrase latercarried over to television when he hosted a stand-up series called The

on its own, to mean that is all you’ll be getting, don’t expect to receiveany more, had been in use in the UK since 1920, if not earlier.

baby baby baby, you can’t bottle love!

the product is perfect as long as you add this last ingredient (seealso ‘all you add is love’), while bringing to mind the well-known

Beatles’ lyric, ‘can’t buy me love’. Alternatively, the slogan could be taken to mean that the dressing itself is like love, in that it

cannot be contained

batty boys

British comic Sacha Baron Cohen for Channel 4 TV’s Da Ali G Show

(2001-1), after the character’s appearances on the satire comedy series

actress Madonna, when she asked him whether he’d like to be in her

new video Ali G’s reply: ‘Aiiih, wicked As long as dere ain’t no

during the late 1970s and early 1980s The drink’s slogan during the

be all that you can be

‘different’ and therefore makes one stand out, in 1977 Dr Pepper launched its ‘Be a Pepper’ campaign The commercial featured David

pepper too?’

Recruitment slogan for the US Army introduced in the post-Vietnam

years; Advertising Age, an industry information leader, ranked the

‘an army ofone’

be cool, stay in school

(PSA) encouraging pupils to attend school and avoid leaving early.

stay in school.’ The announcer would conclude: ‘Ifyou want to be

cool stay in school’, after which one of the penguins would take

this issue is ‘stay in school—give yourself a chance’