Evolution of a Catchphrase
Arnold's got "I'll be back." Tom Cruise made famous "Show me the money!" Star Wars introudced us to "May the Force be With You." John Travolta's "Battlefield Earth" made it cool to say "God, that sucked!"
A lot of movies and TV shows have famous catchphrases. "Seinfeld" alone introudced more catchphrases into popular culture than just about any other show or movie ever made. ("Not that thee's anything wrong with that", "re-gifter", "Master of your domain", etc.) These phrases are the ones that people always quote when talking about their favorite movies or shows.
But what about catchphrases among yourselves? Have you, or any one of your friends or family, ever said something that you still laugh about today? I know some people who every time I see them, I quote back to them some joke or hilarious comment they made, even if it was made over 10 years ago. Such is the nature of catchphrases.
Among my circle of friends, I've achieved my own piece of catchphrase history for two phrases: "Boring" and "Louder". Notice that these are not really phrases, just simple words, but each one is still occasionally brought up for chuckles at my expense. I heard both of these brought up in recent weeks, so I think the time has finally come. For the first time ever, I give you official documentation of how each phrase came to be.
"LOUDER" (first uttered by Glenn sometime in the mid-90s)
We were over Brendan Murphy's house, down in his basement. I can't remember exactly who was present, but I know Brendan, Janessa and Joe Leduc were there, and a few others. Anyway, we were just sitting around, shooting the breeze, and it started to get dark outside. We were just going into evening, and nobody felt like getting up to turn on a light. As the darkness closed around us, someone came up with the idea of telling some ghost stories. So Brendan put on his best spooky voice and told a story that creeped us all out a bit. But then Joe Leduc said he could top it. So he launched into his own ghost story. As he went on, his voice got lower and lower. So, here we are, sitting in total darkness, as Joe was trying to build tension. He was doing a pretty good job, until this happened:
Joe: (creepy voice, almost a whisper) ...so the girl came down the stairs, and she could still hear the voice. It was calling out to her, and the girl was ready to scream at any moment. The voice began to speak again, and a rustle was heard in the other room. She headed into the other room and....(voice became very quiet, and Glenn, sitting the farthest away, couldn't hear him)
Glenn: (normal voice) LOUDER.
And with that, the moment was gone, and the whole room burst into laughter. At the time, I didn't think it was so funny. I mean, I couldn't hear the guy telling the story. What good is telling a ghost story if you can't hear it? But as the years passed, I realized just how dumb and funny the whole moment was. Try it sometime. The next time you're sitting around a campfire and someone is trying to scare the pants off you with a ghost story, destroy the whole atmosphere with a well-placed "louder."
So, without realizing it, I created my first catchphrase. Oh, well. At least it was funny.
"BORING" (first uttered by Glenn in 2002, during a rehearsal for "How to Succeed...")
Sorry to say, but I'm going to destroy the mystique around this one. Yeah, I did say it, but I really can't take credit for this one. Observe...
We were taking a break from a rehearsal for our summer musical "How to Succeed in Business Without really Trying." Janessa had a song she had to sing, and there's a part in the song that is really silly and if done right, gets a lot of laughs. So, the cast started goading Janessa to do it, because there were some people present who hadn't seen it before. So, she started singing, but she really wasn't giving her all. She was kind of tired and she could barely keep a straight face, anyway.
The whole thing was coming off flat and dull, and everyone started going "Come on, do it right", but it just wasn't happening. So, she tried it again, but it was even worse than before. I decided to quote that great TV icon, Homer Simpson. Very loudly, so all could hear, and in full Homer Simpson voice, I said "BORING."
Now, once again, the whole room was in stitches. This time, I was pleased, because I had hoped to get a laugh with my well-placed one-liner.
But you see, I REALLY did steal this line form Homer. There's a "Simpsons" episode when the whole town goes to watch a soccer game. The stadium starts off as a loud, boisterous group, yelling and cheering wildly. But the players on the field spend the next ten minutes just kicking the ball back and forth in a tiny cicrle, and the crowd keeps getting quieter and quieter, waiting for some action. Eventually, the crowd goes dead quiet. The players continue to do nothing special, and when the place is so quiet you could hear a pin drop, Homer stands up and shouts "BORING!" It's a great comic moment on the show, and I was trying to re-create it here.
Well, I got the laughs, but little did I know, I had just created catchphrase number two. Once again, for the record, I was just quoting a TV show.
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And there you have it. For those who know me, the next time you hear someone utter either "Boring" or "Louder" when my name comes up or when I walk into the room, now you know why. What can you say about these?
Well, as Homer likes to say...."D'oh!"
A lot of movies and TV shows have famous catchphrases. "Seinfeld" alone introudced more catchphrases into popular culture than just about any other show or movie ever made. ("Not that thee's anything wrong with that", "re-gifter", "Master of your domain", etc.) These phrases are the ones that people always quote when talking about their favorite movies or shows.
But what about catchphrases among yourselves? Have you, or any one of your friends or family, ever said something that you still laugh about today? I know some people who every time I see them, I quote back to them some joke or hilarious comment they made, even if it was made over 10 years ago. Such is the nature of catchphrases.
Among my circle of friends, I've achieved my own piece of catchphrase history for two phrases: "Boring" and "Louder". Notice that these are not really phrases, just simple words, but each one is still occasionally brought up for chuckles at my expense. I heard both of these brought up in recent weeks, so I think the time has finally come. For the first time ever, I give you official documentation of how each phrase came to be.
"LOUDER" (first uttered by Glenn sometime in the mid-90s)
We were over Brendan Murphy's house, down in his basement. I can't remember exactly who was present, but I know Brendan, Janessa and Joe Leduc were there, and a few others. Anyway, we were just sitting around, shooting the breeze, and it started to get dark outside. We were just going into evening, and nobody felt like getting up to turn on a light. As the darkness closed around us, someone came up with the idea of telling some ghost stories. So Brendan put on his best spooky voice and told a story that creeped us all out a bit. But then Joe Leduc said he could top it. So he launched into his own ghost story. As he went on, his voice got lower and lower. So, here we are, sitting in total darkness, as Joe was trying to build tension. He was doing a pretty good job, until this happened:
Joe: (creepy voice, almost a whisper) ...so the girl came down the stairs, and she could still hear the voice. It was calling out to her, and the girl was ready to scream at any moment. The voice began to speak again, and a rustle was heard in the other room. She headed into the other room and....(voice became very quiet, and Glenn, sitting the farthest away, couldn't hear him)
Glenn: (normal voice) LOUDER.
And with that, the moment was gone, and the whole room burst into laughter. At the time, I didn't think it was so funny. I mean, I couldn't hear the guy telling the story. What good is telling a ghost story if you can't hear it? But as the years passed, I realized just how dumb and funny the whole moment was. Try it sometime. The next time you're sitting around a campfire and someone is trying to scare the pants off you with a ghost story, destroy the whole atmosphere with a well-placed "louder."
So, without realizing it, I created my first catchphrase. Oh, well. At least it was funny.
"BORING" (first uttered by Glenn in 2002, during a rehearsal for "How to Succeed...")
Sorry to say, but I'm going to destroy the mystique around this one. Yeah, I did say it, but I really can't take credit for this one. Observe...
We were taking a break from a rehearsal for our summer musical "How to Succeed in Business Without really Trying." Janessa had a song she had to sing, and there's a part in the song that is really silly and if done right, gets a lot of laughs. So, the cast started goading Janessa to do it, because there were some people present who hadn't seen it before. So, she started singing, but she really wasn't giving her all. She was kind of tired and she could barely keep a straight face, anyway.
The whole thing was coming off flat and dull, and everyone started going "Come on, do it right", but it just wasn't happening. So, she tried it again, but it was even worse than before. I decided to quote that great TV icon, Homer Simpson. Very loudly, so all could hear, and in full Homer Simpson voice, I said "BORING."
Now, once again, the whole room was in stitches. This time, I was pleased, because I had hoped to get a laugh with my well-placed one-liner.
But you see, I REALLY did steal this line form Homer. There's a "Simpsons" episode when the whole town goes to watch a soccer game. The stadium starts off as a loud, boisterous group, yelling and cheering wildly. But the players on the field spend the next ten minutes just kicking the ball back and forth in a tiny cicrle, and the crowd keeps getting quieter and quieter, waiting for some action. Eventually, the crowd goes dead quiet. The players continue to do nothing special, and when the place is so quiet you could hear a pin drop, Homer stands up and shouts "BORING!" It's a great comic moment on the show, and I was trying to re-create it here.
Well, I got the laughs, but little did I know, I had just created catchphrase number two. Once again, for the record, I was just quoting a TV show.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
And there you have it. For those who know me, the next time you hear someone utter either "Boring" or "Louder" when my name comes up or when I walk into the room, now you know why. What can you say about these?
Well, as Homer likes to say...."D'oh!"
posted by Glenn at 2:56 PM
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