Thursday, April 23, 2009

Wanted: A New Catch Phrase


Several years ago I kept ending every sentence with, “You know what I’m sayin’?” My husband would laugh at me, questioning if I intended to start a new career in rapping. I don’t know why I said it. It just lodged into my vocabulary. It became my verbal Bob from What About Bob.


I think it would be thrilling to be the inventor of a highly popular catch phrase. As the phrase creator, I could remain entirely anonymous, but walking around hearing people utter the catch phrase I invented would secretly make my insides jump. Why? It must be my love affair with words. They really are more powerful than we think.


Here are some catch phrases you might recognize:
1. “Suit up.”
2. “Bam.”
3. “How YOU doin’?”
4. “Whassup.”
5. “Good night, John Boy.”
6. “Schwing.”
7. “Well, isn’t that special.”
8. “No soup for you!”
9. “De plane! De plane!”
10.“Where’s the beef?”


Other favorites:
“Holy Cow!” – I like this one b/c cows really are considered holy in places like India.
“Jumping the Shark…” – I just like the way this sounds and what it represents…something being past its time…getting old.
“Land sakes!” or for “Pete’s sake!” – Again these just seem friendly to me and I’m intrigued by people who actually say them.

What are some of your favorite catch phrases?

Extra credit: Can you identify where the above catch phrases originated?

9 comments:

  1. How fun! I once had a friend who claimed that he invented the phrase "sup?" I think he was lying.

    I recognized a few of those phrases -
    1. “Suit up.” - I believe from the show How I met your mother?
    3. “How YOU doin’?” - Friends
    8. “No soup for you!” - Seinfeld

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  2. Haha this is such a funny post! I think I know all of them except for "Good night, John Boy". I LOVE catch phrases!

    I seem to always be making up ones of my own which I then find to be hilarious and other people eventually find annoying!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog -- I'm going to spend the rest of my morning catching up on your's! Oh and I tagged you in my recent post!

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  3. I say "Holy Cow" ALL the time!!! So much so, that my kids have caught on=)

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  4. My catch phrase is "too cool." I say that to my kids especially! "Mom, look at what I drew!" My answer, "Too cool!" :)

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  5. Wendy,
    One of my favorite movies is What About Bob! After my mom passed away,it was one of the few things that restored my ability to laugh was that movie! Dr. Leo..Dr.Leo Marvin! That would be my catch phrase!
    Blessings today! I loved the picture of the kitty cat!

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  6. Lucy Marie, Right you are about your guesses...and I think I might have had that same friend. :D

    Juliet, The Waltons...I hear you on point 2. I give major kudos for my husband. It's hard to imagine living with me. Do I need to do something about being tagged...pass that badge along? I'm still pretty new to blogging.

    Tasha, Somehow...after following your blog, I can just see you saying, "Holy Cow" often. :D

    Jody, That is so sweet. At least the kids get to be cool...I don't shoot for cool myself anymore. :D

    Stephanie, Baby Steps. Baby Steps...it is a good one, eh? I'm glad it helped you to heal while grieving your mom...it's funny what ends up helping with stuff like that! Blessings to you! Wish I could claim that cat is mine...but I got the photo off Flickr. I'm a dog girl.

    You all made this post even more fun for me!!!

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  7. Oh, I heart Bob!!! :-) That movie cracks me up, as does your post today! Thanks for making me chuckle...I needed a good laugh after my kiddos put me through the ringer today during homeschool. (ALL three of them...I'm worn out!)
    I have to say, "No soup for you!" is by most favorite, but my favorite. Our family has a few that we say throughout our days...lots of laughter abounds. :-)

    Yes, I'm thinking we have quite a lot in common...how cool is that?!?

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  8. Thank you for visiting my blog!

    Is "Oh, snap!" a catchphrase? I love that one. My little toddler daughter says it all the time and it's adorable.

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  9. How YOU doin! So awesome :)

    Stopping by from SITS to welcome you to the site.

    Enjoy meeting some fantastic ladies.

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