Decoder Ring - Think Catchphrases Are Dead? Eat My Shorts.

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3.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 9 August 2023

⏱️ 41 minutes

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Summary

Once you start listening for catchphrases in everyday life—you can’t stop hearing them. From the radio era’s “Holy mackerel!” to Fonzie’s “Ayyy!” to Urkel’s multiple go-to lines on Family Matters, we explore the irresistible quotables from sitcoms, movies and social media that have burrowed into our collective lexicon. Oh, just one more thing… bazinga! (Did I do that?)

This episode was written by Willa Paskin, who produces Decoder Ring with Katie Shepherd. This episode was edited by Joel Meyer. Derek John is Slate’s executive producer of narrative podcasts. Merritt Jacob is our senior technical director.

Thank you to Luke Winkie, Stephen Langford, Doug Dietzold and The Good, the Bad and the Sequel podcast, and Shawn Green for the suggestion and Urkel clips.

If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, you can email us at DecoderRing@slate.com

If you haven’t yet, subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends. If you’re a fan of the show and want to support us, consider signing up for Slate Plus. As a member, you’ll get to listen to Decoder Ring without any ads—and your support is crucial to our work. Go to slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Jonathan Braylock, I'm Dra. Milligan, and I'm James III. And we're those of Black
0:09.2	MacGene Jump in Hollywood. It's a comedic podcast that reviews films with leading actors
0:13.6	of color and analyze them in the context of race and Hollywood's diversity issues.
0:17.7	Yeah. Listen to new episodes on Mondays. Find us wherever you get your podcasts. I don't
0:22.7	care where you get them. I just want you to listen. Don't threaten the people we need
0:26.9	them to listen. Okay. Okay. Okay. Sorry, guys. Listen. Listen to us. Yeah. Yeah. Put
0:32.1	on a happy voice. Before we begin, this episode contains some adult language. You know
0:49.8	one when you hear one. I'm talking about a catchphrase. How you doing? A catchphrase
0:56.6	is a phrase. Maybe it's just a few words. Eat my shorts. Yeah, baby. Yeah. Maybe it's
1:06.2	even a made upward. Shazinho. It could be that made upward twice. Na nu. Na nu. Or three
1:14.8	times. Yada, yada, yada. I never heard from them again. It's often very closely associated
1:19.6	with a performer or character. And it catches on seemingly everywhere. Go ahead. Make
1:33.9	my day. Not only do people recognize a phrase like this, they use it. And I have only one
1:39.6	thing to say to the tax increases. Go ahead. Make my day. That's President Ronald Reagan
1:48.7	quoting the line made famous by Clint Eastwood. It was 1985. And the famed mono culture was
1:54.0	reaching millions of people delivering the same snappy sound bites to all of them. And
1:59.6	doing it so effectively that decades later, we're still swimming in catchphrases from
2:05.0	the past. Well, don't have a cow, man. It's time for a moopalooza, the signature event
2:12.0	at the Wisconsin State Fair. Oh, yeah. Good day to get out and stream. Yeah, but
2:16.1	that would do. It's going to be nice. I want to thank everybody here. And I still have
2:21.8	these stuff. Baby, thank you. That's from former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's
2:27.7	farewell speech last year. And yet he's quoting an Arnold Schwarzenegger line. It's more than
	...

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