More on catchphrases

Our family were collectors of catch phrases from popular media which somehow managed to anchor in our collective psyche. As we have created our own families, those habits have endured. I have written about catchphrases before (here), but that post reminded me about our family habit, and I began to note some favourites as I encountered them. I have collected some of these phrases in this post. 

Such as this line from The Castle where the Kerrigan family are served rissoles at the dinner table: "Yeah, but it's what you do with it" (Sitch, 1997, 11:23). I always impute a 'darl' onto the end of that particular line, although the 'darl' occurs in the earlier exploration of the sponge cake "What d'you call that, darl?" (2:40). Not to mention the classic place to store precious presents from the family: "This is going straight to the pool room" (8:20), "Looks like everybody's kicked a goal" (18:06) about seasoning on chicken, and "We're going to Bonny Doon" (23:36). 

I also love the phrase "A fish goes rotten from it's head" (from the Turkish, "the fish stinks first at the head", Porter, 1768, p. 27). Why? Because it implies that as the leaders are, so shall the followers be. Good leadership will inspire good followership. A stink will create a stink throughout. 

"I love it when a plan comes together" (Hasburgh & Cannell, 1983). Ah, the A Team. Gone but not forgotten.

Which leads me to "Ah, it's the old [XXX] trick" from Get Smart (Stern & Sultan, 1965-1970); the "cone of silence" (which morphed into the 'cone of shame' for pet post-op self-harm prevention); and "Sorry about that, chief" the latter being our father's favourite stock phrase. 

Then there was the Fabergé organics shampoo: the ad which had Heather Locklear saying "I told two friends about it, and they told two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on" while the screen divided into two, four, eight, sixteen and so on Heathers (ewjxn, 2020, 0:07). 

Or how about "Thunderbirds are GO!" (Anderson, 1966). Nothing like telling people that, to galvanise us all: darned near sixty years on.

And then there is the often mis-quoted opening crawl from the first Star Wars movie, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....", which I always remember as long, long "ago, in a galaxy far, far away...." (Lucas, 1977). 

Not to mention from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, John Cleese's French Maitre'D character offering Terry Jones's Mr Creosote: "And finally, monsieur, a wafer-thin mint" (Monty Python, 2025), before Mr Creosote explodes, first verbally, then physically. 

And the Life of Brian (1979). So many to choose from here! John Cleese as a Roman Centurion "Wha's this then" and proceeds to give Brian a Latin grammar lesson (24:47). Mandy, mother of Brian, saying "He's not the messiah! He's a very naughty boy!" (1:05:34). "Only the true Messiah denies His divinity!" Brian retorts "What?! Well, what sort of chance does that give me? All right! I am the Messiah!" whereupon his followers say "He is! He is the Messiah!"(1:01:50). And finally, where Eric Idle sings "Some things in life are bad, they can really make you mad; and other things just make you swear and curse. When you are chewing on life's gristle; don't grumble, give a whistle! And this'll make things turn out for the best -" (1:29:43).

"...and always look on the bright side of life" (1:30:04).

Sam

References:

Anderson, S. (1966). Thunderbirds Are Go [puppet film]. Century 21 Productions.

ewjxn. (2020, March 4). 1984 Fabergé Organics shampoo "Heather Locklear told two friends" TV Commercial [video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/Hyxmj1Yf6Dk

Hasburgh, P. (Producer), & Cannell, S. J. (Writer). (1983). The A-Team Series 1 [Lt.Col. John "Hannibal" Smith catchphrase]. NBC.

Jones, T. (1979). Life of Brian [film]. HandMade Films; Python (Monty) Pictures.

Lucas, G. (Writer, Director). (1977). Star Wars [Episode IV: A New Hope]. Lucasfilm.

Monty Python. (2025). The Meaning of Life Script - Part VI: The Autumn Years. http://www.montypython.50webs.com/scripts/Meaning_of_Life/10.htm

Porter, J. (1768). Observations on the Religion, Law, Government, and Manners, of the Turks (Vol 1.). J. Norse Bookseller.

Sitch, R. (Director). (1997). The Castle [film]. Working Dog Productions.

Stern, L. B. (Executive Producer), Sultan, A. (Executive Producer, 1968–70). (1965-1970). Get Smart [TV Series, 1-5]. Talent Associates; CBS Productions.

Wikipedia. (2025). Monty Python's Life of Brian. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python's_Life_of_Brian