A list of the twenty greatest, most memorable and most popular catch phrases from 80s TV, film and advertising. Catch phrases are a fixture in pop culture, and the generation that came of age during the 1980s should get a rush of nostalgia from revisiting these "pre-Internet memes" and jokes from 30 years ago or more.
A number of these catch phrases have remained popular, or have undergone a renaissance in recent years. Mr. T's memorable "I pity the fool" has remained his most recognizable routine, and figured in to the recent big screen adaptation of the show "The A-Team." Al Pacino's delivery of the key line from Brian De Palma's "Scarface" remains a frequently parodied and iconic movie moment.
Though catch phrases are often depicted as hacky or mocked as a low-brow form of comedy, it's undeniable that they have the power to connect millions of people around a humorous phrase or observation. Below are 20 of our favorite examples. Vote for your favorites and leave other suggestions in the comments!
ORIGIN: Scarface. The main character (Tony Montana) unleashes a Tommy Gun from under his coat and exclaims to the people he's shooting to "say hello to [his] little friend. It's such a ridiculous, funny, yet violent part of the movie, it really stuck with everyone.
USE: Whenever you brandish pretty much anything of power or importance by surprise, you can use this phrase. It's been so overdone in pop culture at this point that a lot of people don't even know what it's from.
It's often been used to brandish literal "little friends" from under coats (little people, fictional characters, penises).
ORIGIN: The popular catchphrase said in almost every episode by Gary Coleman's character "Arnold" in the popular 80s TV show Diff'rnt Strokes.
USE: The catchphrase penetrated pop culture in a way that few others have. It's still the thing that has carried Gary Coleman's career, and will forever be his legacy. They had plenty of guest stars come on/off the show and occasionally they would be graced with Arnold asking what they were talking about.
Say what you will about Coleman, or catchphrases in general, but these moments were often the highlight of every episode.
Now, some people use it as just a way to ask what someone is saying.
ORIGIN: The A-Team. B.A. BARACUS would often say it in reference to someone who would mess with him/the team.
USE: This is basically what Mr. T is known for. It probably doesn't help that he still dresses, speaks and acts exactly like the character that coined the phrase.
This phrase may also be used in reference to absolutely anyone who is about to get their ass kicked.
ORIGIN: Terminator. The first one. Arnold's Terminator character is at a police station and is told to wait for something. He calmly tells the officer at the counter that he'll be back. He drives a freaking car through the police station.
USE: Pretty much any time Arnold Scharzenegger leaves any place, he still uses this quote of his to state the fact that he will return. This has been parodied/lampooned in pop culture ever since its inception and has since become the most memorable line from the Terminator franchise next to "Come with me if you want to live".
ORIGIN: The Electric Company in the '70s, however it became a popular catchphrase in the '80s thanks to the Goonies. Chunk and Sloth use this catch phrase to get everyones attention when rescuing our beloved Goonies. Poor Sloth was forced to watch old Electric Company reruns while chained in a basement.
USE: This phrase may be used when tryin to get the attention of a large group of people.
ORIGIN: Hans and Franz - two Austrian weight-lifting gurus lampooning Arnold Schwarzenegger's drive to make people fitter in America. At the time, Arnold was known primarily for being the Terminator and being really, ridiculously buff. As part of the sketch, Hans and Franz would say the catchphrase as part of their workout videos (the primary purpose of the sketches, as they always addressed the audience).
USE: It was the catchphrase of the sketch, but was later used by Arnold himself in a few foundations he started for fitness and more recently used while he was campaigning for governorship of California in reference to the budget crisis.
ORIGIN: An infomercial where an old woman falls, can't get up, and delivers the line in such a cheeseball, ridiculous fashion that people couldn't help but laugh. The instance in the commercial is actually supposed to be quite dire, but give it to America to make one, long, onrunning joke about it.
USE: Whenever anyone falls, a way to say it melodramatically is to say the line the way the old woman said it in the commercial.
Alf is a fictional puppet Alien from the planet Melmack who likes eating cats. A human family adopted him and takes care of him... with hilarious consequences.
This phrase continues to wedge itself into pop culture here and there, whenever an egotistical person/character makes themselves laugh.
ORIGIN: The He-Man series Masters of the Universe features the main character (He-Man) shouting this in the credits sequence. It is one of the most memorable lines from any 80s cartoon show.
USE: In the show it was used as sort of a declaration of power. It's since been used in many comedy movies and spoofs as an exclamation or as a nerdy showing of a newly found power.
ORIGIN: Used in a fake commercial in the film Robocop in reference to a service and/or attractive women.
USE: Something that is really amazing and fantastic whether it be a person, place, thing or idea. Now (and in the 80s) often used to reference hot chicks as well.
ORIGIN: MTV came out and it came out strong. The cool, subversive thing to do was to demand your MTV. If you were a kid and you wanted to be cool, this was the channel with all the coolest people in the world, teaching you exactly how to be as cool as they are via music videos that were played 24/7 (remember when MTV had music?).
USE: It was almost a call to musical action for an entire generation. The same way the campaign in the video to the left said it, people would say it in sitcoms, in real life and in various places in pop culture to illustrate that people that didn't used to have a television outlet now have one.
ORIGIN: In the kids' show Pee Wee's Playhouse, a robot named Conker would always dispense a piece of paper with the secret word of the day. Pee Wee would show it to the audience and his puppet friends. Every time this word was said throughout this episode everyone in the show would scream and a bell would be rung. It was a celebration of the word and would often happen with inopportune words (see clip to the left).
USE: The secret word of the day, as a concept, was one of the few catchphrases that Pee Wee's playhouse actually had. It is still one of the most well-known parts of the show, quoted by people who have never even watched the show. If someone instates a secret word of the day, then that word must be acknowledged in some way shape or form. It's used as a teaching technique in elementary schools sometimes, even, to expand children's lexicons (and miiinds!). It all started with Pee Wee.
ORIGIN: The TV series The Incredible Hulk featured David Banner (the Hulk's alter ego in the show) telling people they wouldn't like him when he's angry. It was always a great moment between the character and the audience -- a tension and a joke that was not apparent to the characters other than banner, but more than clear (and exciting) tot he audience.
USE: Whenever someone is threatening someone else with their future demeanor. Often used by people in a position of power informing others of their power. It's very much a threat/warming that can be used in many ways... but it always implies some assumed power.
ORIGIN: The clapping lightswitch, The Clapper! The commercial for the prodcut was super catchey and made it fun to say Clap on! Clap Off!
USE: The phrase has taken a more sinister meaning. It now means when someone performs a drive by or runs up and shoots a rival. Clap Off indeed.
It's also been used largely as a joke for various electronics/machines/appliances being turned on by a clapper. The joke continues to this day and the very "clap" itself is the catchphrase of this very, VERY 80s device.
ORIGIN: An 80s advertisement for mustard, as seen in the video to the left. Two Rolls Royces pull up next to each other, one passenger asks the other if they have any Grey Poupon, the other says "but of course".
USE: A slogan used for commercials for Grey Poupon for MANY years to follow, it also penetrated pop culture by being a staple of anyone making fun of the upper class. It makes a lot of sense because the very concept of "fancy mustard" is pretty ridiculous in of itself.
ORIGIN: Punky Brewster, the tween scamp that won the hearts of America.
USE: Whenever surprised, shocked, or in disbelief Soleil Moon Frye would yell this Punky Brewster catch phrase, which turned into a great way for other little kids around the country to kind of swear without actually swearing.
USE: Means, basically, that you find something gross. This was used really often in the 80s, and still occasionally, when someone found something disgusting. It's basically a show of disapproval. It's often said (in comedy) when someone does something overly mushy or when something romantically undesirable is proposed.
ORIGIN: The Saturday morning TV show Thundercats featured a triumphant call to action/power as a very phallic and powerful sword would double in size and grant the holder (LionO, the main character of the show) with greater abilities. Every time he needed to fight, he would call upon the power of the sword at its full potential by screaming "Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats... Hooo!"
USE: It was the primary catchphrase of this show and it became a catchphrase in skits and a few lampooning cartoons when references to 80s cartoon shows became popular.
ORIGIN: The original G.I. Joe cartoons would often include public service announcements at the end featuring some of the G.I.Joe crew teaching children important life lessons like first aid, how to swim and what to do if your friend is in danger.
USE: After the Joes were done teaching their unsolicited lesson to the unsuspecting, ignorant/naive children, the children would always say "and now we know!" The Joes, then, would very cockily say to the camera "and knowing is half the battle". This phrase was always followed by the theme song of the show.
flatworm And the word of the day is... at 6/03/2010 6:57 AM
Sorry, but the "Secret Word" did NOT start with Pee Wee's Playhouse, a show I absolutely LOVED as I did its hour-long HBO special predecessor.
The "Secret Word" originated with Groucho Marx's "You Bet Your Life, where a stuffed duck would drop down from the rafters revealing the day's word with Groucho remarking, "Say the secret word and win $100."
Obviously, Paul Reubens is a fan of '50s and '60s cultural memorabilia, with his catch phrase, "I know YOU are, but what am I?" and such phrases like "Fan mail from some flounder?" which originated on Rocky and Bullwinkle. I am quite certain that he got the "Secret Word" idea from Groucho, the father of so much of what we now know as comedy.
Moony The Twenty Greatest 80s Catch Phrases at 10/08/2010 3:50 AM
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neetu.batra The Twenty Greatest 80s Catch Phrases at 8/07/2011 11:28 PM
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Shell Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon? at 7/04/2010 12:46 AM
Singer Robert Goulet - if anyone else reading this site besides me knows who Robert Goulet is - kept a jar of the mustard with him so that anytime he was riding in a limo he could roll down the window and ask someone in the next car, "Pardon me, would you care for some Grey Poupon?"
Post a Comment
And the word of the day is... at 6/03/2010 6:57 AM
The "Secret Word" originated with Groucho Marx's "You Bet Your Life, where a stuffed duck would drop down from the rafters revealing the day's word with Groucho remarking, "Say the secret word and win $100."
Obviously, Paul Reubens is a fan of '50s and '60s cultural memorabilia, with his catch phrase, "I know YOU are, but what am I?" and such phrases like "Fan mail from some flounder?" which originated on Rocky and Bullwinkle. I am quite certain that he got the "Secret Word" idea from Groucho, the father of so much of what we now know as comedy.
I pity the fool... at 7/04/2010 12:38 AM
And the word of the day is... at 6/03/2010 12:32 PM
The Twenty Greatest 80s Catch Phrases at 3/03/2011 8:57 AM
I Want My MTV at 8/22/2010 5:35 AM
I Want My MTV at 6/03/2010 12:28 PM
The Twenty Greatest 80s Catch Phrases at 10/08/2010 3:50 AM
... You wouldn't like me when I'm angry. at 9/30/2010 9:12 PM
Gag me with a spoon! at 9/30/2010 9:14 PM
Say hello to my little friend at 6/09/2010 12:52 PM
The Twenty Greatest 80s Catch Phrases at 8/22/2011 11:13 AM
I am a great fan of movies and all the movies mentioned above i have downloaded. Great piece of information. Nice share
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The Twenty Greatest 80s Catch Phrases at 9/15/2010 4:57 PM
The Twenty Greatest 80s Catch Phrases at 8/07/2011 11:28 PM
Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon? at 7/04/2010 12:46 AM
Say hello to my little friend at 7/04/2010 12:41 AM