Wednesday, January 14, 2015

You might very well think that...

HALLIE EPHRON: Recently a new phrase found its way into my lexicon. 
You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment.
It's said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow by Francis Urquhart, the man who will stop at nothing to become Prime Minister in the BBC's fantastic House of Cards. I use it all the time now (Husband: Are you going to eat that last piece of fried chicken? Me: You might very well think that...")

The phrase takes it place in my pantheon of phrases plucked from movies and TV. You've got your chosen ones too, right?

Here are more of mine... see if you can name the film or TV show they're from. Answers are below.

1. "We want... a shrubbery!"
2. "Don't panic!" [Said with arms waving]
3. "You had me at hello." 

4. "Show me the money." 
5. "You talkin' to me?"
6. "You're gonna need a bigger boat."

7. "Nobody's perfect"
8. "My Name Inigo Montoya. You keel my father. Prepare to die."
9. "I'll have what she's having." 
10. "You're right, you're right, I know you're right"
11. "Funny she doesn't look Druish"
12. "Make it so." 
13. "Engage." 
14. "Tea. Earl Gray. Hot." 
15. "Resistance is futile."  

ANSWERS:
1. Monty Python
2. Chicken Run
3. Jerry Maguire4. Jerry Maguire5. Taxi Driver
6. Jaws
7. Some Like it Hot

8. Princess Bride
9. When Harry Met Sally
10. When Harry Met Sally
11. Spaceballs
12. Star Trek: Next Generation
13. Star Trek: Next Generation
14. Star Trek: Next Generation
15. Star Trek: Next Generation

 But the movie that aces all the others for useful quotes is, no surprise, a Mel Brooks movie, Young Frankenstein. Here are just a few that live on:
 

"Roll, roll, roll in zee hay." 
"Put zee candle back" 
"HE. WAS. MY. BOYFRIEND!" 
"Werewolf? There wolf!" 
"Walk this way. No, this way."
"What hump?" (in response to "I'm a rather brilliant surgeon. Perhaps I can help you with that hump."
"Goodnight, Frau Blücher." [Horse whinny]


(If you're baffled, watch the movie!)


What are the quotes from movies and TV and perhaps (even!) books that you find yourself trotting out from time to time?

49 comments:

  1. There are so many good quotes that seem to have made their way into everyday conversations. Among my favorites are: “I speak for the trees.” [The Lorax] . . . “Failure is not an option.” [Apollo 13] . . . “What counts is how much you are loved by others,” which is really a shortened version of “A heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others.” [The Wizard of Oz] . . . “What we do in life echoes in eternity.” [Gladiator] . . . .

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  2. Love this post, Hallie. My beau is a big movie fan and he's always trotting out lines:
    "Egermency, egermency, everyone to get from street!" [The Russians are coming.]
    "What an enormous schwanstucker..." [Also from Young Frankenstein]
    "'E's not the Messiah. 'E's just a very naughty boy." [Life of Brian]
    And more!

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  3. Hallie, when I saw you had this up I had to read it right away… laughing laughing laughing! Falling asleep. Will comment in the "morning." You made my day. Thanks!



    —Love the new captcha!

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  4. No one expects the Spanish Inquisition.

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  5. "We don't got to show you no stinking badges" from Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

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  6. Joan, your choices are so interesting! True life lessons.

    Edith - me: Laughing too!

    Reine: Can't wait!!

    Ellen: From???

    Jack: Ah yes...

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  7. When put to the test like this, I can never remember things like movie titles, quotations, etc. except for the obvious, such as "There's no place like home" and "Love means never having to say you're sorry". No need to say which movies these came from!

    Tomorrow morning around 2 I will most likely wake up with dozens of lines AND the proper movie titles running through my head!

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  8. "Have fun stormin' the castle!" from Princess Bride, usually said to the boys when they set off with their friends to do something.

    Most of the Princess Bride, come to think of it--great script!

    "Let the Wookie win." Star Wars.

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  9. I'll go with TV:

    "Damn fine cup of Coffee" - Twin Peaks

    "Winter is Coming" - Game of Thrones

    "The Night is Dark and Full of Terrors" - Game of Thrones

    "So Say We All" - Battlestar Galactic (reboot)

    All of these find their way in to conversation, way more than is probably healthy.

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  10. "Soon. Very soon." from Romancing the Stone, said by one villain to his cousin with great insincerity

    "The cat choked to death on bloody lupines!" Monty Python

    "Never surrender. Never give up." Galaxy Quest

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  11. FChurch, yes!

    "These are not the droids you're looking for." (Star Wars). "It's bigger on the inside." (Dr. Who). "You are a sad, strange, little man, and you have my pity." (Toy Story) "Ride like the wind, Bullseye!" (Toy Story II) "Just keep swimming..." (Finding Nemo)

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  12. "Hold the chicken." Jack Nicholson, Five Easy Pieces

    "The earth moved." Glenda Jackson, A Touch of Class

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  13. I'll agree with FChurch on the majority of The Princess Bride. What a quotable movie.

    "Bear left!" "Right, frog!"

    "Gonzo, what are you doing up there?" "About five knots."

    "These are simple people. Salt of the earth. You know - morons."

    "Some things in here don't react well to bullets."

    "We're not doing it for the money. We're doing it for a sh*tload of money!"

    "I said across her nose, not up it!"

    I could go on for hours.

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  14. Hallie, that's Monty Python.

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  15. #7 is the last line in one of my favorite movies, and leaves 'em laughing.

    I also can never remember any, but Blazing Saddles has a ton of good lines, too. And Jack, that line? Is also in Blazing Saddles, thus:
    Mexican Bandit: Badges? We don't need no stinking badges.

    I like this one, too:

    Charlie: They said you was hung.

    Bart: And they was right.

    Terribly non-PC, though.

    Madeline Kahn was hysterically funny in Young Frankenstein (as was Chloris Leachman). My favorite line of Kahn's:

    [Upon seeing the monster's manhood]

    Elizabeth: Oh my God. Woof.

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  16. Lots of Monte Python:
    Fetchey la vache.
    Your father was a hamster and your mother smelled of elderberries
    Run away! Run away!
    And Mel Brooks:
    Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.
    I've also been known to quote Hyacinth Bucket!

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  17. Rhys, please, that's "Bouquet"!

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  18. What's this? No one's quoting my favourite line from Young Frankenstein....

    "Oh, you men are all alike. Seven or eight quick ones and then you're out with the boys to boast and brag."

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  19. Oh, and "Dammit, Janet!" and the song, "Let's Do the Time Warp" [Rocky Horror Picture Show}

    "How do you know he's the king?"
    "Cause he don't got any shit on 'im." [Holy Grail]

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  20. "Who ARE those guys?" and "Can't swim? The fall will probably kill you." From Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

    And "I'm WALKIN' here." From Midnight Cowboy.

    "Remember where we parked," from Star Trek IV.

    "I am, and shall always be, your friend," from Star Trek II.

    "I'm ready for my closeup." Sunset Boulevard.

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  21. Just remembered one from the original movie The Inlaws:

    "Serpentine! Serpentine!" (Peter Falk's line Alan Arkin)

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  22. And the classics, in Yiddish, from Blazing Saddles: it said "Kosher l'Pesach" (kosher for Passover) on the Indian chief's headband. And when the black folk in the covered wagon came by, he shouted "Lausem gain" or "Let them go."

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  23. I mangle it, but I often use "Do or do not. There is no try" which is sort of from Star Wars.

    So many quotable lines from Princess Bride.

    There are some great ones from the TV show Babylon 5 as well. At work the last couple of months, I keep calling myself Zathras and muttering about how "No one listen to poor Zathras." They must think I'm crazy, but it is true (and so funny in the show).

    However, the number one quote I use all the time is...

    "I have one job on this ship. It's stupid. But I'm going to do it."

    Again, it's not quite right, but it's close to a line from Galaxy Quest.

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  24. All great quotes. Funny how we just slip them into conversation, even if our children give us that look. And I think we all have Young Frankenstein memorized. I still watch it every once in a while.

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  25. Edith-I'm pleased and impressed that you thought of The Russians Are Coming! Wonderful.
    Everything from Princess Bride and Young Frankenstein. Sorry Frankensteen!

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  26. Lately, lots from the Princess Bride, as I just rewatched AND read Cary Elwes's book.

    "Trust no one." The X-Files

    We say "Winter is coming," around here, too.

    And, "Luke, I am your father." Don't know why but that always cracks me up.

    "Fishy, fishy, fishy," from Deuce Bigelow, Male Gigolo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB3Mm3pBTfc

    And I say, although hubby doesn't as he is not a fan, "It's bigger on the inside!"

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  27. This is my favorite post in ages. Francis Urquhart was so wonderfully evil that I have watched those episodes over and over and over. We will certainly miss Ian Richardson.

    On another note, my three daughters are movie lovers like their mom and we have often annoyed their dad and husbands and various visitors by spending mealtimes (or other times) speaking solely in movie quotes. We can go on for hours, especially with The Princess Bride, Young Frankenstein, The Blues Brothers, Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility (we do accents as well). Fun!

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  28. I forgot to add, "I am Groot." Guardians of the Galaxy.

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  29. Aww, I wish I could participate, but I can't remember movie lines the same way I can't remember jokes.

    And ... uhm ... I hate to admit this but I haven't seen "The Princess Bride" or "Young Frankenstein" -- at least not all the way through.

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  30. Igor. (with a long i)
    Timey-wimey
    Make it so, number one. (oft said to husband)
    Or I'll cut your heart out with a spoon. . .(Alan Rickman in Robin Hood)
    The magic fountain (from Just Visiting)
    Do you feel lucky punk? dirty harry
    Everything from Justified.

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  31. Run Forrest run
    Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.
    That's all i've got to say about that.

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  32. Oh, many of my favorites have been cited already. What a fun topic!

    Here are a few I didn't see that are big at our house:

    "The truth is out there." X Files
    "You can look it up!" Annie Savoy in Bull Durham
    "Stupid is as stupid does." Forest Gump
    "I do one thing. I do it very well. And then I move on." Charles Emerson Winchester in M*A*S*H

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  33. I am working on a movie series fund-raiser and one of the pleasures of watching the classic films in a room full of people, most of whom are seeing the movies for the first time, is the laugh of recognition when line after line after line appears. We showed "Casablanca" last year, which is a gold mine of quotes. Last night was "Rear Window" -- Nothing has caused the human race so much trouble as intelligence. MOVIES ARE THE SOURCE OF SO MUCH CULTURE.

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  34. John says [and he's right] that the first one I should have listed is "Beam me up, Scotty" since it's always my comment whenever I have to drive anywhere . . . .

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  35. And along those lines...

    Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a [fill in anything you're not]

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  36. This is reminding me how much I LOVE Galaxy Quest. Just watched it another time.

    Another favorite: The Fifth Element. Just about any line from Leeloo, starting with "Multi-pass" and on to "Me supreme being. Me protect you."

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  37. Oh, Hallie, we love The Fifth Element! Must watch again soon.
    And Susan, Rick is always saying, "Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a--"
    Too funny! And how could I have forgotten, "The truth is out there." ???

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  38. Any and all from The Princess Bride and Star Trek, of course, and so many from Young Frankstein! But also:

    "So I've got that going for me, which is nice." and "hat like this I bet you get a free bowl of soup." - Caddyshack

    "Bueller, Bueller..."

    "Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa." - Field of Dreams

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  39. "Play it again, Sam" CASABLANCA

    "You know how to whistle, don't you? You just put your lips together and... blow." TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT

    "You can't outrun the hounds." FOYLE'S WAR

    "Spoilers!" DR. WHO

    And so many that have already been mentioned.

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  40. Ferris Bueller! How could I have left it out?

    And also from Field of Dreams: "If you build it, the will come."

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  41. Hallie, Young Frankenstein is one of my favorites too. I also love the line My what big knockers (when he looks at the door) and Abby Normal when he asks which brain did you get.

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  42. I was so eager to get to today's topic, but seeing my sweet granddaughters came first. Now, I'm back and ready to go.

    Hallie, I find more and more evidence that we must be twins separated at birth. Monty Python, Young Frankenstein, and When Harry Met Sally are three of my favorite quotable movies. Oh, and of course, the Jerrye Maquire line is one I use in so many forms, "You had me at hello, you had me at chocolate, you had me at free books."

    Oh, Edith, I can't tell you how many times I've used the "Emirgincy, emirgincy" line from The Russians Are Coming. I don't think I'm going to ask about the one your beau uses from Young Frankenstein. Hahaha! Ellen, you may have picked the line I use the most, "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition. Susan, my husband and I use "These are not the droids you're looking for" all the time.

    Here are some more I like:
    "Damn your eyes." "Too late." (Young Frankenstein)
    "Torquemada - do not beg him for mercy. Torquemada - do not ask him for forgiveness. Let's face it - you can't Torquemada anything!" (History of the World, Part I)
    "It's just a flesh wound." (Monty Python)
    "...when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." (When Harry Met Sally)

    Favorite overall is still "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition."

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  43. Here's a couple of mine from TV. Sadly I haven't been able to work them into conversation yet.

    "What's your favorite form of torture?" from Law & Order SVU.

    "You were toilet trained at gun point, right?" from a commercial for Cold Squad, which I never did watch.

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  44. Hallie, the working phrase of my life has become "He who shall not be named" which entered the Harrington-Carter household lexicon with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

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  45. The avalanche has started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.

    When you become obsessed with the enemy, you become the enemy.

    No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow.

    There is a hole in your mind.

    All of these are quotes from Babylon 5 that fans of the show love to use.

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  46. So many lines, so little time! "Emirgincy, emirgincy!" Is always at the top of my list, followed by "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition". And Madeline Kahn singing "Ah, sweet mystery of life!" while having sex with the monster in "Young Frankenstein".

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  47. And from Lily Tomlinson as Edith Ann.."I got a dog named Buthster and he don't smell good!"

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  48. I love Young Frakenstein! What about "Be careful. The stairs can be treacherous." And in my college years my entire dorm used to watch Star Trek and sub in various nouns for Scotty's line, "I'm a doctor, not a ____". Eg "I'm a doctor not an accordion." Endless simpleminded entertainment.

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  49. Lots of great ones here! Here are a few more that get tossed around at our house, or on my team at work:


    "Ah, Kojak - Bang bang!" (Foul Play)

    "My Name is Jim, but they call me... Jim" Blazing Saddles

    "It will be all right"
    "How will it?"
    "I don't know--it's a mystery."
    (Shakespeare in Love)

    " I'm not looking for Ms. Right, I'm looking for Ms. Right Now. "
    (Dead Again)

    "And hey... be careful out there!" (Hill Street Blues)

    "Look that up in your Funk & Wagnalls" (Laugh In)

    and a good literary one from Star Trek IV: Kirk: "Oh the collected works of Jacqueline Susann. The novels of Harold Robbins..."
    Spock: "Ah, the giants"

    Thanks for all the giggles!

    Jim in Durham

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