Catchphrase

A catch phrase is a phrase or expression that is popularized, usually through repeated use, by a real person or fictional character. They are especially common among cartoon characters.

Today, catch phrases are frequently seen as an important part of marketing a character, with the phrase appearing on t-shirts and other promotional materials for the character's respective show or film.

Catch phrases attributed to real people are often based on something that the person would be expected to say, as opposed to something they actually did. These are also known as misquotations. "Beam me up, Scotty" (see below) is a good example of this.

However, in order to be a catch phrase, a quote has to be more than a famous (or infamous) statement. It also has to serve two additional functions: first, to identify the speaker; and secondly, to serve primarily as that character's "trademark." A catchphrase can also identify something other than an individual character: Budweiser's "Wazzup" identifies the brand more than it identifies the individuals in the advertisement who actually say it.

Use of catch phrases

(to be written)

Some well-known catch phrases

• "Ancient Chinese secret, huh?" - from US television advertisements for Calgon
• "And away we go!" - Jackie Gleason
• "And it's goodnight from me..." - "And it's goodnight from him!" - Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker respectively in The Two Ronnies
• "And now for something completely different." - John Cleese in Monty Python's Flying Circus
• "Attica! Attica!" - Al Pacino as Sonny in Dog Day Afternoon and, later, John Travolta as Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever
• "Ay Carumba!" - Bart Simpson
• "Ayyyyyyy!" - Henry Winkler as The Fonz on Happy Days
• "Backbackbackbackback..." - Sportscaster Chris Berman, describing a home run in a baseball highlight
• "Beam me up, Scotty!" - attributed to Captain Kirk in Star Trek (the actual phrase was "Scotty, beam me up..." or some variation)
• "Book 'em, Dan-o." - Steve McGarrett on Hawaii Five-O
• "Boo-yah!" - sportscaster Stuart Scott on ESPN
• "Come up and see me some time..." - Mae West
• "Crikey!" - Steve Irwin
• "Danger, danger, danger." - Steve Irwin
• "The devil made me do it." - Flip Wilson as "Geraldine" on The Flip Wilson Show.
• "D'oh!" - Homer Simpson
• "Did I do that?" - Jaleel White as Steve Urkel on Family Matters
• "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" - Al Michaels, reporting during the Miracle on Ice^*
• "Don't mention the war!" - Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers (episode 6: The Germans)[1][2][3][4]
• "Don't question me." - Joanna Lumley as Patsy Stone on Absolutely Fabulous
• "Drat and double drat!" - Dick Dastardly in Wacky Races
• "Dy-no-mite!" - Jimmie Walker as J.J. Evans, Good Times
• "Eat my shorts!" Bart Simpson
• "Excellent!" C. Montgomery Burns of the Simpsons
• "Fascinating." - Mr. Spock in Star Trek
• "Finest kind." - Hawkeye in MASH
• "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead..." - Chevy Chase, on the TV show Saturday Night Live
• "Go ahead. Make my day."^* - Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan in Sudden Impact
• "God'll get you for that, Walter!" - Bea Arthur as Maude Findlay in Maude
• "Good Grief!" - Charlie Brown
• "Good moaning." - Officer Crabtree in 'Allo 'Allo
• "Good night, John Boy" - from The Waltons
• "Good night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are!" - Jimmy Durante
• "H'Arsenal!" - Eric Morecambe (originally a quiz answer disguised as a cough, thereafter a random interjection)
• "Hasta la vista, baby." - The Terminator, Terminator II ^*
• "He could go all the way!" - Howard Cosell; later Chris Berman in a parody of Cosell's distinctive voice
• "He fallen in the water!" - Spike Milligan as Little Jim in the Goons
• "He likes it! Hey Mikey!" - from 1970s US television advertisements for Life cereal
• "Here come da judge! Here come da judge!" - from Laugh-In
• "He's dead, Jim." - Dr. McCoy on Star Trek
• "Hey, hey, hey!" - Bill Cosby as "Fat Albert"
• "Ho Ho Ho" - Santa Claus
• "Holy cow!" - Baseball announcers Phil Rizzuto and Harry Caray, independently
• "How rare." - Weebl and Bob
• "How you doin'?" - Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani on Friends
• "I am outta here!" - Dennis Miller
• "I can't believe I ate the whole thing." - from US television advertisements for Alka-Seltzer
• "I don't get no respect." - Rodney Dangerfield (and Jabberjaw)
• "I don't believe it!" - Victor Meldrew in BBC sitcom One Foot In The Grave
• "I hate the itching. But I don't mind the swelling..." - David Letterman
• "I have a cunning plan." - Baldrick (Tony Robinson) in Blackadder
• "I'll be back." - The Terminator^*
• "I love it when a plan comes together." - Hannibal Smith (played by George Peppard) on The A-Team
• "I'm free!" - John Inman in Are You Being Served (the feed line is "Are you free, Mr Humphries?")
• "I'm Julian, and this is my friend Sandy!" - Kenneth Williams in Round the Horne
• "I'm so sorry, he's from Barcelona!" - Basil Fawlty about Manuel in Fawlty Towers
• "Isn't that lovely?" - Church Lady
• "I pity the fool!" - Mr. T
• "I thought I taw a putty cat" - Tweety Bird
• "I've fallen and I can't get up!" - "Mrs. Fletcher" (played by Dorothy McHugh), in a television commercial for the Lifecall service
• "Jinkies!" - Velma Dinkley in Scooby-Doo cartoon series
• "Kiss my grits!" - Flo on Alice
• "Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once" - Michelle of the resistance, in 'Allo 'Allo. More exactly, "Lissern varry carfully, Ah shall say zis only wernce"
• "Look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls" - from Laugh-In
• "Lookin' good!" - Freddie Prinze as Chico Rodriguez on Chico and the Man
• "Make it so." - Captain Picard
• "Mr. Anderson..." - Agent Smith addressing Neo throughout the Matrix series
• "My, Oh, My!" - Dave Niehaus Seattle Mariners Broadcaster, used when a great or unexpected play is performed, or a home run hit. Also used by fellow Mariners Broadcasters Rick Rizzs and Ron Fairly
• "Nice to see you, to see you - nice!" - Bruce Forsyth
• "No Problem!" - ALF
• "No Problemo" - Terminator
• "Of course you realize this means WAR!" - Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and other Looney Tunes characters, always after being insulted three times
• "Oh, boy..." - Samuel Beckett (played by Scott Bakula) in Quantum Leap
• "Oh, Matron!" Kenneth Williams again, this time in Carry On films, to Hattie Jacques
• "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!" - "You bastards!" - Stan and Kyle in South Park
• "Ooh...I'm being ha-RASS-ed!" - Frank Spencer (Michael Crawford)
• "Play it again, Sam." - attributed to Rick in Casablanca. Actually spoken in the Marx Brothers comedy A Night in Casablanca.
• "Read my lips." George Bush
• "Say good night, Dick." "Good night, Dick." Laugh-In
• "Screw you guys, I'm going home." - Cartman in South Park
• "Seacrest...OUT!" - Ryan Seacrest, On-Air with Ryan Seacrest
• "Serenity now!" - Frank Costanza on Seinfeld
• "Show me the money!" - Tom Cruise as the title character in Jerry Maguire
• "Shut it!" - Detective Inspector Jack Regan, The Sweeney
• "Smarter than the a-ver-age bear!" - Yogi Bear
• "Smeg!" - Red Dwarf all characters use it as a futuristic curse word. Can be used to replace any current curse word.
• "Smeghead' - Red Dwarf all characters, used to describe someone who is inept, stupid, or insane.
• "Sock it to me." - from Laugh-In
• "Stifle yourself!" - Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker on All in the Family
• "Stone me, what a life!" - Tony Hancock in Hancock's Half Hour
• "Stop messin' about!" (nasal) - Kenneth Williams in Hancock's Half Hour and elsewhere
• "Sweetie darling." - Jennifer Saunders as Edina Monsoon on Absolutely Fabulous
• "That's a damn fine cup of coffee." - Kyle MacLachlan as Special Agent Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks
• "That's all, folks!" - Porky Pig
• "The plane! The plane!" - Hervé Villechaize as Tattoo in Fantasy Island
• "There can be only one!" - the Highlander films and series.
• "There you go." - McCloud (played by Dennis Weaver)
• "They think it's all over, ...it is now!" - Kenneth Wolstenholme commentating on the 1966 World Cup final^*
• "To the moon, Alice!" - Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden in The Honeymooners
• "Up, up and away!" - Superman (the old cartoon series)
• "Up your nose with a rubber hose." - John Travolta as Vinnie Barbarino and the other "Sweathogs" on Welcome Back, Kotter
• "Use the force, Luke", "Use the source, Luke", see also RTFM -- Star Wars
• "Verrrrrryyyy interesting." - Arte Johnson on Laugh-In
• "Well, excuuuuse me!" - Steve Martin
• "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!" - Oliver Hardy to Stan Laurel (note: "nice", not "fine")
• "What a country!" - Yakov Smirnoff
• "What do you think of the show so far? - [throws voice] Ruggish!" - Eric Morecambe
• "What'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" - Gary Coleman as Arnold Jackson in Diff'rent Strokes
• "What's up, Doc?" - Bugs Bunny
• "What you see is what you get." - Flip Wilson as "Geraldine" on The Flip Wilson Show see also WYSIWYG
• "Whazzup?" - Budweiser ad campaign
• "Where's the Beef?" - Clara Peller in commercials for Wendy's
• "Yabba-dabba-doo!" - Fred Flintstone
• "Yeah, baby!" - Mike Myers as Austin Powers in the Austin Powers movies
• "Ying tong iddle i po" - The Goons
• "Yo Adrian!" - Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa in Rocky
• "You bet your sweet bippy." - from Laugh-In
• "You cannot be serious!" - John McEnroe
• "You look marvelous!" - Billy Crystal
• "You silly moo!" - Alf Garnett to wife Else in Till Death Us Do Part
• "You stupid boy!" - Captain Manwaring to Frank Pike in Dad's Army
• "You wouldn't let it lie!" - Bob Mortimer in Vic Reeves' Big Night Out
• "You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!" - Charlie Croker (Michael Caine) in The Italian Job^*
• "You're soaking in it!" - "Madge" from long-running US television advertisements for Palmolive
• "You've all done very well!" - valueless words of managerial encouragement from the doddering Young Mr Grace in Are You Being Served?

^* These phrases occur only once in their respective film/series etc, but still became catch phrases.

See also: Cliché