About Catch Phrases

Maybe you remember "Where's the beef?" or Fonzie's "A-a-a-a-ay" on the show "Happy Days?" These are catch phrases--expressions catapulted to the realm of pop culture usually just by being repeated ad infinitum. Comedians, commercials, sitcoms, movies, songs and books are typical sources for catch phrases. They can also become a trademark expression for a particular person, such as George Bush senior's "Read my lips. No new taxes."

Comedy

Comedians like to develop catch phrases and use them as in jokes. Steve Martin's "Excu-u-u-u-u-se me" is one such example, as is Ken Goodwin's "Settle down now." In fact, for comedians, catch phrases can be no laughing matter. Israeli comedian Dovale Glickman claims he intends to sue Sacha Baron Cohen of "Borat" fame for stealing his distinctive "Wa wa wee wa" catch phrase.

Politics

Countries around the world have their catch phrases that have been uttered by politicians. In the United States, there is Bill Clinton's promise, "I didn't inhale," and Dick Cheney's admonition to John Kerry, "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig." Presidential hopeful Al Gore received some flack for his claim, "I took the initiative in creating the Internet." Abraham Lincoln's opening for the Gettysburg Address, "Four score and seven years ago," is the stuff of history books. Vice President Walter Mondale ripped off a Wendy's commercial to attack Gary Hart when he asked "Where's the beef?"in reference to Hart's policies. President Richard Nixon's promise, "I'm not a crook" is misquoted as "I am not a crook." Franklin D. Roosevelt made history with, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." It was far more eloquent than Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's rumination, "There are known knowns. There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don't know."

Corporate

Corporations are famous for using catch phrases in an attempt to capture a trend. "Thinking outside of the box" was countered by "who moved my cheese," just as "it's all good" lost some shine to "outsourcing." Some classic corporate speak includes "let's do lunch," "take a meeting" and having "full disclosure." The realm of email and text messaging is far from immune to catch phrases, often expressed as abbreviations, such as LOL, LMAO and WTF.

Television

Television comedy is fertile ground for catch phrases. TV Land (see Resources) has rounded up 100 best television character catch phrases. Among them are Fat Albert's "Hey hey HEEY!" Jerry Seinfeld and friends loved catch phrases such as "Yada, yada, yada." J.J., from "Good Times," always described things as "Dyn-o-mite," while Fred Flintstone expressed joy through "Yabba dabba do." Arnold Drummond's question, ""Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" was the highlight of every episode of "Diff'rent Strokes" in the same way people look forward to Donald Trump saying "You're fired!" on "The Apprentice."

Significance

Although catch phrases may seem to be an ailment of the modern age of media saturation, William Shakespeare can be considered one of the most prolific sources of many catch phrases and expressions. It was Hamlet who first uttered, "To be or not to be" and "As You Like It" featured "All the world's a stage." "King Richard III" offers "Now is the winter of our discontent" and "The Merchant of Venice" predates many a country ballad with "Love is blind."

Resources

• Television catch phrases