While many think television was built on a combination of electronics and imagination, I personally feel that a good portion of it has been constructed on a fine bed of catchphrases. From the earliest mention of "How sweet it is!" by Jackie Gleason to "That's what she said" from The Office, there probably hasn't been a year that a catchphrase hasn't graced the lips of the international viewing populace.
I'm sure many of you know those catchphrases well. But, do you know when they were first used, or by whom? If you do, then AOL Television's latest trivia quiz will be right up your alley.
There are 18 questions on catchphrases that span the decades. Some are easy, like 'Whose catchphrase is "Book 'em, Danno"'. Others, like 'What were Bart Simpson's first words as a baby', will be able to be answered by fans of the shows where the catchphrases originally appeared.
One question in particular totally threw me for a loop. I thought the answer was one show but the catchphrase came from a totally different program. Take the quiz yourself and let me know if discovered the question I am talking about. Then, let us know how you did (I personally got 14 out of 18 right).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-10-2007 @ 7:43PM
mikayla said...
I got 12 out of 18. :-|
Although, A couple I just had to plain guess.
Not sure which one could have "thrown you for a loop" but then again I got more wrong. :p
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12-10-2007 @ 7:54PM
Miranda said...
I got 14 out of 18, too. The one that really tripped me up was the first one, about the first show to feature the phrase "yadda yadda yadda." Oh well. :-)
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12-10-2007 @ 9:38PM
Ian said...
12 out of 18 for me!
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12-10-2007 @ 9:43PM
Gwynne said...
Just 6 out of 18!! Could only get one guess right. :p
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12-10-2007 @ 9:50PM
sitruc said...
I know this is just a plug for an AOL quiz to get hits there, but I'm not sure I understand the premise of the quiz or this plug for the quiz? Catchphrases are used all of the time. I routinely use several original phrases(yeah, that's as sad as it sounds, but I do have friends so it's okay, right?). There are many original catchphrases used on television shows. Many of the "catchphrases" used in the quiz and a couple in this entry aren't original nor were they commonly used.
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12-10-2007 @ 10:31PM
Nola said...
I got 15 out of 18.
Sitruc, yes some of the catch phrases aren't original, but those shows in particular moved them from being just a random line in an epi, to being something that becomes associated with the show and made it a classic moment.
There are tons of slang words or catch phrases out there that your friends will bat about, but aren't known to the rest of the world. A tv show or a movie can change that, if the phrase or word is said with the right tone at the right moment in a good scene.
I mean Chandler Bing had plenty of funny phrases attributed to him, but it was his phrasing that made them that much funnier and makes people remember his character. The guy made the words 'Could you be ...' hilarious.
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12-11-2007 @ 1:00AM
Angie said...
hate to break it to you but that's what she said isn't originally from the office.. try watching some old school Wayne's World.
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12-11-2007 @ 2:48AM
sitruc said...
...or any teenager from the past 40 years. : )
12-11-2007 @ 2:19AM
Brent McKee said...
13 of 18 for me. There were some shows that I never watch - oddly I got most of those right and stumbled on things that watched a lot.
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12-11-2007 @ 7:43AM
Alicia said...
I got 12 out of 18 too... I'm over 30 and don't watch the OC sorry....
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12-11-2007 @ 2:20PM
CaptKahunah said...
13 out of 18... I figure the one that tripped you up had to be "yada, yada, yada". I would debate if the use of it on (the correct answer) made it catchphraseable... it wasn't until the use on (the way more popular show) that it really made it into the american lexicon.
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12-11-2007 @ 5:14PM
Karen said...
14 out of 18 here. So many of us got that score--I wonder if we all got the same ones wrong? I definitely got tripped up on yada yada yada, but I agree with @CaptKahunah--it wasn't really a media sensation catch-phrase until "Seinfeld" used it (although people I knew here in NYC--including myself--had been using it for ages before that).
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