List of catchphrases

This is a list of catchphrases found in British and American television and film, where a catchphrase is a short phrase or expression that has gained usage beyond its initial scope. These are not merely catchy sayings. Even though some sources may identify a phrase as a catchphrase, this list is for those that meet the definition given in the lead section of the catchphrase article and are notable for their widespread use within the culture.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

This list is distinct from the list of political catchphrases.

In British culture

Notable catchphrases in British culture

Catchphrase	Character/Person	Media source	First appearance	Notes
"Bernie, the bolt!"	Bob Monkhouse	The Golden Shot	1967	[1]
"Ooh, you are awful ... but I like you!"	Dick Emery	The Dick Emery Show	1963	[2]
"You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment"	Francis Urquhart	House of Cards	1990
"Don't panic!"	Lance-Corporal Jones	Dad's Army	1968
"You are the Weakest Link! Goodbye!"	Anne Robinson	The Weakest Link	2000
"Fantastic!"	Christopher Eccleston	Doctor Who	2005
"The Chase is on!"	Bradley Walsh	The Chase	2009
"Is that your final answer?"	Chris Tarrant	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?	1998
"Permission to Speak, Sir!"	Lance-Corporal Jones	Dad's Army	1968	[3]
"They don't like it up 'em!"	Lance-Corporal Jones	Dad's Army	1968	[4]
"You stupid boy"	Captain George Mainwaring	Dad's Army	1968	[5]
"I don't believe it!"	Victor Meldrew	One Foot in the Grave	1990
"I'm Free"	Mr. Humphries	Are You Being Served?	1972
"Ooh Betty"	Frank Spencer	Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em	1973	[6]
"It's good night from me..." "...and it's good night from him"	Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker	The Two Ronnies	1971	[7]
"Nice to see you, to see you ... nice"	Bruce Forsyth	The Generation Game	1971	[8]
"Didn't he/she/they do well?"	Bruce Forsyth	The Generation Game	1971	[9]
"Shut that door!"	Larry Grayson	The Generation Game	1978	[10][11]
"What a gay day!"	Larry Grayson	The Generation Game	1978	[11]
"Seems like a nice boy!"	Larry Grayson	The Generation Game	1978	[12]
"Look at the muck on 'ere!"	Larry Grayson	The Generation Game	1978	[12]
"You dirty old man"	Harold Steptoe	Steptoe and Son	1962	[13]
"(Three words:) Fab-u-LOUS!"	Craig Revel Horwood	Strictly Come Dancing	2004	[14]
"A complete dahnce di-SAH-ster"	Craig Revel Horwood	Strictly Come Dancing	2004	[14]
"Absolute filth . . . and I LOVED it!"	Craig Revel Horwood	Strictly Come Dancing	2004	[15]
"You'll like it, not a lot . . . but you'll like it"	Paul Daniels	The Paul Daniels Magic Show	1979
"Let's get the boys on the baize!"	Rob Walker	BBC TV snooker coverage	2008	[16][17]
"Are you ready? Ladies and Gentlemen! Let's...Play...DARTS!"	Martin Fitzmaurice & Lakeside audience	Darts World Ch'ships	1985	[18][19]
"A real bobby-dazzler"	David Dickinson	Bargain Hunt and Dickinson's Real Deal	2004?	[20][21]
"Cheap as chips"	David Dickinson	Bargain Hunt and Dickinson's Real Deal	2004?	[22]
"Can you hear me, mother?"	Sandy Powell	Radio	1930	[23]
"Does my bum look big in this?"	Arabella Weir	The Fast Show	1994	[24]
"I'll get me coat"	Mark Williams	The Fast Show	1994	[25][26]
"Silly Old Moo!"	Alf Garnett	Till Death Us Do Part	1965	[27]
"Listen Very Carefully, I Shall Say This Only Once"	Michelle Dubois	'Allo 'Allo!	1982	[28]
"Lovely jubbly"	Del Boy	Only Fools and Horses	1981	[29]
"During the war..."	Uncle Albert	Only Fools and Horses	1985
"Eh! Eh! Alright! Alright! Calm down! Calm down!"	Harry Enfield	Harry Enfield's Television Programme	1990	[30]
"Is it cos I is Black?"	Ali G	Da Ali G Show	2000	[31][32]
"Exterminate"	Dalek	Doctor Who	1963	[33]
"How very dare you!"	Catherine Tate	The Catherine Tate Show	2004	[34]
"Am I bovvered?"	Catherine Tate	The Catherine Tate Show	2004	[35]
"What a Fucking Liberty!"	Catherine Tate	The Catherine Tate Show	2004	[36]
"Computer says no"	Carol Beer	Little Britain	2003	[37]
"I have a cunning plan"	Baldrick	Blackadder	1983	[38]
"Hello, sweetie."	River Song	Doctor Who	2008	[39]
"Spoilers."	River Song	Doctor Who	2008	[39]

In American television

Catchphrases from events, interviews, and commercials are not included.

Notable catchphrases from American television shows

Catchphrase	Character	Series	First appearance	Notes
"Aaay!"	Fonzie	Happy Days	1974	[40][41][42]
"And that's the way it is."	Walter Cronkite	CBS Evening News	1963	[40][41]
"¡Ay, Caramba!"	Bart Simpson	The Simpsons	1988
"Bazinga!"	Sheldon Cooper	The Big Bang Theory	2007	[40][42]
"Baby, you're the greatest"	Ralph Kramden	The Honeymooners	1955	[40][41]
"Bam!"	Emeril Lagasse	Emeril Live		[40][41]
"Bang, zoom, straight to the moon"	Ralph Kramden	The Honeymooners	1955	[42]
"Book 'em, Danno!"	Steve McGarrett	Hawaii Five-O	1968	[40][41][42]
"Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose"	Coach Taylor	Friday Night Lights	2006	[40][42]
"Come on down!"	Johnny Olson	The Price is Right	1972	[40][41]
"Cut it out"	Joey Gladstone	Full House		[40]
"Danger, Will Robinson"	Robot	Lost in Space	1965	[40][41][42]
"De plane! De plane!"	Tattoo	Fantasy Island	1977	[40][41][42]
"Denny Crane"	Denny Crane	Boston Legal		[41]
"Did I do that?"	Steve Urkel	Family Matters		[40]
"D'oh!"	Homer Simpson	The Simpsons	1989	[40][41][42]
"Don't make me angry."	Bruce Banner	The Incredible Hulk		[41]
"Dude."	Hugo "Hurley" Reyes	Lost		[40]
"Dy-no-mite!"	J.J. Evans	Good Times	1974	[40][41][42]
"Eat my shorts"	Bart Simpson	The Simpsons	1989	[40][43]
"Elizabeth, I'm coming to join you honey!"	Fred Sanford	Sanford and Son		[40][41]
"Everybody lies"	Dr. Gregory House	House	2004	[40][42]
"Gee, Mrs. Cleaver"	Eddie Haskell	Leave it to Beaver		[41]
"God'll get you for that"	Maude	Maude		[40][41]
"Good night, and good luck"	Edward R. Murrow	See It Now		[41]
"Good night, John Boy"		The Waltons	1971	[40][41][42]
"Heh heh"	Beavis and Butt-Head	Beavis and Butt-head		[41]
"Here it is, your moment of Zen"		The Daily Show		[41]
"Here's Johnny"	Ed McMahon	The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson	1962	[40][41]
"Hey now!"	Hank Kingsley	The Larry Sanders Show		[41]
"Hey hey hey!"[note 1]	Dwayne Nelson	What's Happening!!		[41]
"Hey hey hey!"	Fat Albert	Fat Albert		[41]
"Holy (whatever), Batman!"	Robin	Batman		[41]
"Holy crap!"	Frank Barone	Everybody Loves Raymond		[40][41]
"Homey don't play that!"	Homey the Clown	In Living Color		[41]
'How sweet it is!"	Jackie Gleason	The Jackie Gleason Show		[41]
"How you doin'?"	Joey Tribbiani	Friends	1994	[40][41][42]
"I know nothing!"	Sgt. Schultz	Hogan's Heroes		[41]
"I love it when a plan comes together"	John "Hannibal" Smith	The A-Team	1982	[41][44]
"I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl and my other brother Darryl"	Larry	Newhart		[41]
"I'm listening"	Frasier Crane	Frasier		[40]
"I'm Rick James, bitch!"	Dave Chappelle as Rick James	Chappelle's Show		[40][41]
"If it weren't for you meddling kids!"	Various villains	Scooby Doo, Where Are You!	1969	[41]
"Is that your final answer?"	Regis Philbin	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?	1999	[40][41][42]
"It's a good thing"	Martha Stewart	Martha Stewart Living		[40]
"Jane, you ignorant slut"	Dan Aykroyd to Jane Curtin	Weekend Update / Saturday Night Live		[40][41]
"Just one more thing..."	Columbo	Columbo	1971	[40][41][42]
"Kiss my grits!"	Flo	Alice	1976	[40][42]
"Legendary"	Barney Stinson	How I Met Your Mother	2005	[40][42]
"Let's be careful out there"	Sgt. Esterhaus	Hill Street Blues	1981	[40][41][42]
"Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!"		Adventures of Superman	1952	[40]
"Live long and prosper"	Spock	Star Trek	1966	[40][41][42]
"Make it so"	Jean-Luc Picard	Star Trek: The Next Generation	1987	[40][40]
"Make it work"	Tim Gunn	Project Runway		[40]
"Makin' whoopee"	Bob Eubanks	The Newlywed Game		[41]
"Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!	Jan Brady	The Brady Bunch		[40][41]
"Mom always liked you best"	Tommy Smothers	The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour		[41]
"Na-Nu, Na-Nu"	Mork	Mork & Mindy	1978	[40][42]
"Never assume ..."	Felix Unger	The Odd Couple		[41]
"Nip it in the bud!"	Barney Fife	The Andy Griffith Show		[41]
"No soup for you!"	The Soup Nazi	Seinfeld	1995	[40][41]
"Norm!"		Cheers	1982	[41][42]
"Now cut that out!"	Jack Benny	The Jack Benny Program		[41]
"Oh my God, they killed Kenny"[note 2]	Stan Marsh	South Park	1997	[40][41][42]
"Oh, my nose!"	Marcia Brady	The Brady Bunch		[41]
"Resistance is futile"	Borg	Star Trek: The Next Generation		[40][41]
"Ruh-roh"	Astro (and Scooby-Doo)	The Jetsons / Scooby-Doo		[40]
"Say good night, Gracie"	George Burns	The Burns & Allen Show		[41]
"Schwing!"	Wayne and Garth	Wayne's World / Saturday Night Live		[41]
"Smile, you're on Candid Camera"		Candid Camera		[41]
"Sock it to me!"		Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In	1968	[40][41][42]
"Space, the final frontier ..."	Captain Kirk	Star Trek: The Original Series	1966	[41]
"Stifle!"	Archie Bunker	All in the Family	1971	[40][41][42]
"Suit up!"	Barney Stinson	How I Met Your Mother		[41]
"Tell me what you don't like about yourself"	Dr. McNamara and Dr. Troy	Nip/Tuck		[41]
"Thank you veddy much"	Latka Gravas	Taxi		[40]
"That's hot"	Paris Hilton	The Simple Life		[41]
"The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat"	Jim McKay	ABC's Wide World of Sports		[40][41]
"The Tribe has spoken."	Jeff Probst	Survivor	2000	[40][41]
"The truth is out there"	Fox Mulder	The X-Files		[41]
"This is the city ..."	Joe Friday	Dragnet	1951	[41]
"This tape will self-destruct in five seconds."		Mission: Impossible	1966	[40]
"To the Batmobile!"	Batman	Batman	1966	[40]
"Two thumbs up"	Siskel & Ebert	At the Movies		[41]
"Up your nose with a rubber hose"	Vinnie Barbarino	Welcome Back, Kotter	1975	[41][42]
"We are two wild and crazy guys!"	Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd as Czech playboys	Saturday Night Live		[41]
"Welcome to the O.C., bitch"	Luke Ward	The O.C.		[41]
"Well, isn't that special?"	The Church Lady	Saturday Night Live		[40][41]
"We've got a really big show!"	Ed Sullivan	The Ed Sullivan Show		[41]
"We've got a situation."	Mike "the Situation" Sorrentino	Jersey Shore		[40]
"What'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis?"	Arnold Jackson	Diff'rent Strokes	1978	[40][41][42]
"What you see is what you get!"	Geraldine Jones	The Flip Wilson Show		[41][42]
"Who loves ya, baby?"	Kojak	Kojak	1973	[40][41][42]
"Will you accept this rose?"		The Bachelor		[40]
"Would you believe...?"	Maxwell Smart	Get Smart	1965	[41][42]
"Yabba dabba doo!"	Fred Flintstone	The Flintstones	1960	[40][41]
"Yada, yada, yada"	Elaine Benes	Seinfeld, episode "The Yada Yada"	1997	[40][41][42]
"Yeah, that's the ticket"	Tommy Flanagan, the Pathological Liar	Saturday Night Live		[41]
"You eediot!"	Ren Hoek	Ren & Stimpy	1991	[41]
"You look mahvelous"	Billy Crystal as Fernando	Saturday Night Live		[40][41]
"You big dummy!"	Fred Sanford	Sanford and Son	1972	[45]
"You rang?"	Lurch	The Addams Family		[41]
"You're fired!"	Donald Trump	The Apprentice	2004	[40][41]

In cinema

Main Article: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes

Notable catchphrases in cinema

Catchphrase	Character/Actor	Movie	First appearance	Notes
"I'll be back"	Terminator	The Terminator	1984	[note 3][note 4]
"I am your father"	Darth Vader	The Empire Strikes Back	1980
"Hasta la vista, baby"	Terminator	Terminator 2: Judgment Day	1991	[note 5]
"I love the smell of napalm in the morning"	Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore	Apocalypse Now	1979	[note 3][note 4]
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"	Rhett Butler	Gone with the Wind	1939	[note 6][note 7]
"Here's looking at you, kid"	Rick Blaine	Casablanca	1942	[note 8][note 9]
"I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse"	Don Vito Corleone	The Godfather	1972	[note 10][note 11]
"Go ahead, make my day"	Harry Callahan	Sudden Impact	1983	[note 12]
"You've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"	Harry Callahan	Dirty Harry	1971	[note 12]
"You talkin' to me?"	Travis Bickle	Taxi Driver	1976	[note 13]
"Yippee ki yay, motherfucker"	John McClane	Die Hard	1988	[note 14]
"Say hello to my little friend"	Tony Montana	Scarface	1983	[note 15]
"Release the Kraken!"	Zeus	Clash of the Titans	2010	[46]
"The name is Bond, James Bond"	James Bond	Dr No	1962	[note 5]
"We have ways to make men talk"	Mohammed Khan	The Lives of a Bengal Lancer	1935	[47]

See also

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes
• List of Internet memes

Notes

1. Dwayne Nelson's "Hey hey hey" catchphrase in What's Happening!! emphasizes the second hey
2. The catchphrase "Oh my God, they killed Kenny" is followed with Kyle Broflovski's catchphrase "You bastards!"
3. 1. 1 on Time Magazine's top 10 catchphrases.
4. 1. 37 on the American Film Institute's top 100 Movie Quotes.
5. 1. 76 on the American Film Institute's top 100 Movie Quotes.
6. 1. 2 on Time Magazine's top 10 catchphrases.
7. 1. 1 on the American Film Institute's top 100 Movie Quotes.
8. 1. 6 on Time Magazine's top 10 catchphrases.
9. 1. 5 on the American Film Institute's top 100 Movie Quotes.
10. 1. 10 on Time Magazine's top 10 catchphrases.
11. 1. 2 on the American Film Institute's top 100 Movie Quotes.
12. 1. 6 on the American Film Institute's top 100 Movie Quotes.
13. 1. 10 on the American Film Institute's top 100 Movie Quotes.
14. 1. 96 on Premiere magazine's top 100 Greatest Movie Lines.
15. 1. 61 on American Film Institute's top 100 Movie Quotes.

References

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2. "Ooh ! You Are Awful – Dick Emery's Big Screen Offering". britishclassiccomedy.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 May 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
3. Hattenstone, Simon (10 June 2002). "Permission to speak, sir?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
4. Roycroft-Davis, Roy (3 March 2012). "SAY NO, NO, NO TO PROPPING UP THIS EU DISASTER ZONE". Daily Express. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
5. Sutcliffe, Tom (30 September 2011). "Tom Sutcliffe: 'You stupid boy' spoke volumes". theindependent.co.uk. London. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
6. Payne, Stewart (21 August 2003). "Ooh Betty, I've got a stolen police radio". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
7. "Ronnie Corbett obituary: '...And it's goodnight from him'". liverpoolecho.co.uk. 31 March 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
8. "Nice to see you, to see you Knight". thenorthernecho.co.uk. 11 June 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
9. White, Michael (11 June 2011). "Bruce Forsyth gets long-awaited knighthood – didn't he do well?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
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13. Dodson, Sean (26 February 2008). "Steptoe and Son to ride again". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
14. Ringtones of Revel Horwood's catchphrases are available Archived 3 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
15. "Louis Smith Wins Full Marks For Topless Showdance in Strictly Come Dancing Final," Metro, 22 December 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
16. Flickr pictures by Warren, May 5 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
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18. YouTube clip showing commentator and audience in action, 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
19. Mastercaller.com page. Retrieved 5 May 2014
20. cf the title of Dickinson's autobiography, What A Bobby Dazzler. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
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22. Dan Hearn, " A real Bobby Dazzler in Oxford", Oxford Mail, 28 October 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2014
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27. Beacom, Brian (11 May 2010). "'The audience gets a chance to laugh at everyone who's daft and bigoted'". evening times.co.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
28. Lyons, James (24 November 2010). "Theresa May resorts to 'Allo 'Allo French accent defending immigration plans". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
29. "TV provides new dictionary entries". BBC News. 30 August 2003. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
30. "Brookside fans hold Scouse demo". BBC News. 18 October 2002. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
31. "Formula 1 ace Lewis Hamilton apologises for "Is it cos I is black?" Ali G joke". Daily Record. Scotland. 30 May 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
32. "Is it cos I is black?". The Guardian. London. 12 January 2000. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
33. "'Exterminate!' Woman spotted with Dalek by The Leas in Folkestone". Kent Online. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
34. Archibald, Ben (3 March 2011). "Me? A slut? How very DARE you?". Daily Record. Scotland. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
35. Freedland, Jonathan (21 March 2007). "This political limbo leaves Brown cast as Westminster's Prince of Wales". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
36. Carter, Helen (21 August 2009). "Teenage girl is first to be jailed for bullying on Facebook". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
37. Hurley, James (28 March 2013). "Plan to tackle 'computer says no' banking". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
38. "20 of the best TV catchphrases ever: Vote on your favourite quotes and one-liners". Daily Mirror. 16 March 2014.
39. Martin, Dan (31 May 2013). "Why does River Song divide Doctor Who fans?". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
40. Diane Clehane (9 September 2013). "TV's 60 Greatest Catchphrases". TV Guide. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
41. "TV Land Lists the 100 Greatest TV Catchphrases". Fox News Channel. Associated Press. 28 November 2006. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
42. Cashill, Robert (18 March 2015). "From "Kiss My Grits!" to "Bazinga!", 30 Favorite TV Catchphrases". Biography.com. A&E Television Networks. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
43. "'The Simpsons': Nancy Cartwright on the origin of 'Eat my shorts'". 30 October 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
44. Sachs, R. (2010). What Would Rob Do: An Irreverent Guide to Surviving Life's Daily Indignities. Wiley. p. pt57. ISBN 978-0-470-59426-1.
45. "Most popular sitcom catchphrases of all time, from 'Ayyyy!' to 'Hello, Newman'". FOX Wilmington. 24 February 2020.
46. Silver, Alexandra (9 December 2010). "The Top 10 Everything of 2010". Time. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
47. "The origin of the movie cliché "We have ways of making you talk!"". thisdayinquotes.com. Retrieved 20 July 2017.

External links