Meta for a Friday
In Tuesday's post, I had an expression that I thought was relatively clever:
"in the name of all that is decent"
Now, clearly, I'm not the first person ever to use this expression.
Which got me thinking: when did I first hear it?
I did a little searching through the memory bank.* Was it from Shakespeare? Milton? David Sedaris? Dooce?
No.
Do you want to know where I first heard it?
In the dialogue of the movie Teen Wolf, which, many years ago, I watched repeatedly on VHS.
There's a hot blond cheerleader chick that the Michael J. Fox character is smitten with. She has the lead in the school play, as a Civil-War-era Southern belle. She has a line that goes something like this:
(Emphasis added.)
So, there you have it. The next time you read something even vaguely highfalootin', just think: it may have originated in the author's mind with a slutty girl in a teen movie.
*Incidentally, I first heard the expression "memory bank" in reference to that in which VICI the robot from the television show Small Wonder registered data.
"in the name of all that is decent"
Now, clearly, I'm not the first person ever to use this expression.
Which got me thinking: when did I first hear it?
I did a little searching through the memory bank.* Was it from Shakespeare? Milton? David Sedaris? Dooce?
No.
Do you want to know where I first heard it?
In the dialogue of the movie Teen Wolf, which, many years ago, I watched repeatedly on VHS.
There's a hot blond cheerleader chick that the Michael J. Fox character is smitten with. She has the lead in the school play, as a Civil-War-era Southern belle. She has a line that goes something like this:
You can [something my something], you can ravish my body. But, I beg you, with all that is decent and holy: don't destroy my plantation!
So, there you have it. The next time you read something even vaguely highfalootin', just think: it may have originated in the author's mind with a slutty girl in a teen movie.
*Incidentally, I first heard the expression "memory bank" in reference to that in which VICI the robot from the television show Small Wonder registered data.
Copyright 2005-2010 by Arabella and Trattoria Breve. All rights reserved. 9:04 AM
6 Comments:
I know I get a lot of my colloquialisms from TV and movies, although for the most part I couldn't tell you which ones came from where.
But all my swearing came from my great-uncle Ray who was an old school Irish Catholic. No one swears like they do. Some of my favorites:
Jesus Christ in a sidecar
Jesus, Mary and Joseph
Christ in a bathtub
In the name of the baby Jesus
Holy Mary and the saints
I still use most of them and I'm not even Catholic. They're just so much fun to say.
JACKPOT!
Someone who acknowledges "Its a Small Wonder" I was telling someone about that show and they didnt believe that something so stupid could have been on air.
I feel soo vindicated.
LMAO! Teen Wolf! That's hilarious.
Loved Teen Wolf. Thanks for the memories. Its good to know that all my old t.v. and movie watching has accounted for something.
I do that all the time. I think I've come up with something, only to find out that I haven't.
Teen Wolf rocked.
That VICI the robot girl freaked me the heck out.
I say "Christ on a Cracker" all the time, and am sure I heard it somewhere before.
Post a Comment
<< Home